Correlation between depression, quality of life and clinical severity in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

Depression is frequent in patients with hidradenitis suppurativa. However, its relationship with quality of life and clinical severity needs further investiga-tion. In this cross-sectional study, 341 adult, consecu-tive patients with hidradenitis suppurativa completed the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), which has been shown to be able to identify cases of major depressive disorder in dermatological patients. The frequency of depression in hidradenitis suppura-tiva patients was 29.0%. In patients with depression, severity (International Hidradenitis Suppurativa Severity Score System (IHS4)), quality of life (Skindex-17; Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI)), and health status (36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)) were significantly worse compared with patients with no depression. The highest linear correlation was ob-served between GHQ-12 and the psychosocial scale of the Skindex-17 and the SF-36 mental scale. In cont-rast, correlation between GHQ-12 and clinical severity was poor. Depression is an important comorbidity in hidradenitis suppurativa, which is strongly associated with impairment in quality of life, but not linearly cor-related with clinical severity.