ABSTRACT

Background:

Many studies have shown negative effects of venous ulcers on quality of life. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of ulcer duration, size and number on dermatology life quality, depression and anxiety.

Material and Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study conducted with 25 (41.7%) female and 35 (58.3%) male patients with venous ulcers who admitted to the Wound Council of our hospital. Socio-demographic and Clinical Data Form including information such as age, gender ulcer size, duration, number, symptoms, concomitant systemic disease, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were filled out by all voluntary patients.

Results:

DLQI, anxiety and depression scores of the patients with symptoms were significantly higher than those of the patients without symptoms (P<0.05). There was a significantly positive correlation between ulcer size and DLQI (r = 0.378 / p = 0.003), anxiety (r = 0.325 / p= 0.011) and depression scores (r = 0.389 / p = 0.002). DLQI scores in patients with multiple ulcers were significantly higher than that of patients with a single ulcer (P<0.05). When the effect of DLQI was controlled, there was not any correlation between ulcer size and ulcer duration with anxiety or depression (p>0.05). When the effect of DLQI was not controlled, the correlation analysis showed a positive correlation between these two ulcer parameters and anxiety or depression (p<0.05).

Conclusion:

We concluded that patients with venous ulcers are at the risk of anxiety and depression because of the impairment in quality of life.