<p>BACKGROUND: No study has examined the impact of vitiligo support group membership on vitiligo patient quality of life (QoL).</p> <p>OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the QoL impact of vitiligo support groups by comparing QoL and associated patient characteristics between vitiligo patients who are and are not members of a vitiligo support group.</p> <p>METHODS: Members of a Henry Ford Hospital-sponsored, Southeast Michigan Vitiligo Support Group were compared to non-member vitiligo patients recruited from a previous study cohort.17 Eligible patients were asked to complete the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and a study-specific questionnaire designed to collect relevant patient characteristics.</p> <p>RESULTS: The mean DLQI scores for the support group members and non-members were similar (7.1 ± 5.4 and 6.0 ± 6.5, respectively; P-value 0.2), despite the support group members reporting more severe overall disease and increased disease severity in exposed portions of the body. The African-American: Caucasian ratio and the prevalence of unemployment were both significantly higher among the support group participants.
Limitations: Small sample size may have limited the study's ability to demonstrate the differences between the support group participants and the controls.</p> <p>CONCLUSIONS: The similar QoL despite an increased prevalence of poorer QoL indicators among the support group participants suggests a protective effect of support group membership.</p> <p><em>J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(4):344-350.</em></p>.