Background: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and psoriasis are inflammatory skin diseases associated with obesity. Each disease is likely to impact the quality of life of patients, but the relative impact of each disease is unknown.
Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether skin disease or obesity is more distressing to obese patients who have either psoriasis or HS.
Methods: A cohort of obese patients with psoriasis and HS was surveyed using a time-trade-off utility. T-tests and regression analysis were used to compare differences in impact on quality of life between skin disease and obesity for patients with HS and psoriasis. Further analyses were adjusted for degree of obesity and severity of disease.
Results: A total of 79 subjects completed the survey. Obese patients with HS were heavier than patients with psoriasis (mean body mass index 38.1 kg/m2 vs. 34.9 kg/m2). Obese patients with either HS or psoriasis were both willing to trade a significantly higher proportion of their life to live without skin disease than to live at a normal weight (p = .01). This effect persisted after controlling for disease severity and weight. Patients with HS were willing to trade significantly more years of life to live at a normal weight than obese patients with psoriasis (14 vs. 7; p < .04).
Limitations: This was a small study conducted at an academic institution.
Conclusion: In this study population, obesity was more severe in patients with HS than in those with psoriasis. Even after controlling for relative severity, HS was more problematic for subjects in this study than weight when these conditions existed concomitantly.
Keywords: Hidradenitis suppurativa; obesity; psoriasis; quality of life.