Clinical Medicine Insights: Dermatology

Despite the untold prevalence of tinea capitis (TC) among children in the developing countries, no single study has examined its impacts on children’s quality of life (QoL). The focus of the present study is to examine the impacts of TC on QoL and to identify the patients and disease variables that affect QoL as determined by the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). A multistage probability random sampling was conducted among predominantly Yoruban children. A total of 370 children, 185 children with TC and 185 without TC, were recruited as subjects and controls. The CDLQI test instrument was translated and validated in a pilot study before use. Diagnosis of TC was done through microscopy and CDLQI questionnaire was administered to both subjects and controls. A total of 131 (70.8%) boys and 54 (29.2%) girls with TC were included as subjects, with the mean age of 7.31 ± 2.52 years. There was no significant difference between the ages of the subjects and controls (P = 0.67). The children with TC had significantly higher mean CDLQI score than the control, 7.17 ± 3.034 versus 0.00 ± 0.000 respectively (t = 32.132, P < 0.001). The physician assessed severity was identified as a significant factor by the mean of total CDLQI, with an Eigenvalue of 3.57 (canonical correlation, r = 0.88; χ2 = 276.265; df = 2; P < 0.001). Symptom/feeling and treatment subscales were mostly impaired. Symptoms such as itching, alopecia, adenopathy, and difficulties due to treatment contributed most significantly to QoL impairment (P < 0.01). TC onset after age 5 years, teenage presence, level of education, atopy history and clinical type of TC were important factors which negatively affect QoL. In this we identified the patient and disease variables that negatively affect QoL among children with TC.