Quality of Life in Veterans with Onychomycosis (Abstract)
Erin Warshaw MD,
Dermatology Online Journal 7(2): 21G

Four hundred U.S. veterans with microscopic or culture-proven toenail onychomycosis completed a quality of life questionnaire (QOL) consisting of 9 demographic and 38 quality of life questions (29 Skindex and 9 nail-specific questions). Five-point answers were converted to scale scores ranging from never (0) to always (100). Most participants were male (96%), aged 61-80 (63%), had involvement of five or more toenails (55%) and no fingernail involvement (72%). Average Skindex scores were: 28.9-emotions, 19.1-symptoms and 12.4-function. Onychomycosis affected patients' QOL at least "rarely" in the following areas: pain (score=31.1), worry about nail condition (33.8), worry of worsening disease (47.0), shame (34.3), nail fold irritation (32.5), nail fold sensitivity (33.1), embarrassment (33.8), frustration with condition (36.9), frustration with lack of improvement (31.4), and annoyance (42.3). No significant associations were found between Skindex scores when individuals were dichotomized by number of toenails involved (<4, >5), disease duration (<15 yrs, >15 yrs), or involvement of other body sites (yes, no). Fingernail involvement was significantly associated with Skindex symptom (p=0.005) and emotion (p=0.004) scores as compared to toenail involvement alone.

© 2001 Dermatology Online Journal