Evaluation of dermatological quality of life, sexual dysfunction and other psychiatric diseases in patients with vitiligo with and without genital involvement

Aim: Vitiligo is an acquired depigmentation disease characterized by depigmented macules of different sizes. Vitiligo is due to skin lesions affecting the self image; affect the person's emotional and psychological well-being, sexual life and relationships with other people.Especially the presence of genital involvement increases the strength of this relationship. One study demonstrating this relationship is limited in the literature and the aim of this study was to determine the presence of genital involvement of vitiligo on sexual dysfunction and dermatological quality of life, and the susceptibility to other psychiatric disorders such as anxiety and depression. Material and Method: The study was performed in İnönü University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatology 30 vitiligo with genital involvement, 30 vitiligo without genital involvement and 30 controls were performed in 3 groups with a total of 90 cases. Sociodemographic characteristics of patients and Vitiligo Area Severity Index scores were also recorded to determine the clinical severity of vitiligo groups. Dermatological Life Quality Index, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Arizona Sexual Experience Scale, Golombok-Rust Sexual Satisfaction Scale were applied to all groups. Each scale score was calculated. Results: 50 (55.6%) of the cases were female and 40 (44.4%) were male. The mean age was 39.92 ± 9.06 years. In the vitiligo group with genital involvement, the VASI score was 4 ± 3.73 and in the vitiligo group without genital involvement was 1.75 ± 1.73. The total scores of the control group were significantly lower than those of vitiligo with genital involvement and vitiligo without genital involvement (p <0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the vitiligo groups with genital involvement and the vitiligo groups without genital involvement in terms of the total score values of DYKI, HAD total, ASEX, GRISS (p> 0.05). Conclusion: In our study, it was observed that the presence or absence of genital involvement in vitiligo does not make a difference in terms of quality of life, sexual and psychological influences. Key Words: Sexual dysfunction, genital involvement, vitiligo, quality of life