What We’ve Uncovered About Psoriasis in the Summertime
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Are people with psoriasis more likely to cover up with pants and long sleeves in warm weather? Or are they okay with “showing some skin” in shorts and tank tops? This is just one of the things we set out to learn in our seasonal survey of more than 300 members with psoriasis, a chronic autoimmune condition.
Participants ranged in age from 10 to 80 years old (with an average age of 43), and 68% of them were female. What did they have to say? In response to some of our more playful questions, 62% of participants said they are okay with “showing some skin” in the summer, and 32% said that summer made them “happy as a clam.” Conversely, 14% said it made them “cranky as a crab,” while 54% said it was a little of both. What might be causing that crankiness? 49% of respondents reported that bug spray was the biggest skin irritant in the summer, with 30% citing sunlight itself and 22% pinpointing sunscreen.
We also asked some important research questions about how psoriasis affects quality of life, including social activities, sports, personal relationships and more. These important lifestyle factors were captured using the Dermatological Life Quality Index (DLQI). Internally, PatientsLikeMe refers to DLQI ratings as a person’s “skinpact” because it quantifies how much of an impact psoriasis can have on your lifestyle.
To share what we learned, we’ve put together a new Patient Voice report entitled Uncovering Psoriasis. Don’t miss this in-depth look at how our psoriasis patients rate their “skinpact” as well what specific factors can increase it, from age to the location of an outbreak to the percentage of the body covered with itchy, red plaques (a measurement known as the Body Surface Area or BSA score). You’ll also find tips and insights shared by our patients for coping with psoriasis during summer.
Like digging into the data and learning directly from patients? Check out our previous Patient Voice reports on preparing for life after an organ transplant and getting the most out of inpatient psychiatric therapy.
Want to connect and learn from psoriasis patients like you?
I’ve got psoriasis on my lower legs, knees and elbows. Winter is the worst for me and the summer is great. There is a direct correlation between the amount of sun I get and the amount of gross, dry, itchy, scaley stuff that on me. More sun = happy Dan. Summer rocks for me.
Comment by Dan Dawes — October 10, 2012 @ 1:49 pm