Perceived stigma and social discomfort are experienced by patients with visible skin ailments, negatively impacting their well-being. A new patient-reported outcome measure, StigMA & Social Health (SMASH), was used to study perceived stigma and social comfort in five chronic skin diseases. SMASH is a 12-item survey with two subscales (Stigma = 8 items; Social Health = 4 items) with scores from 1 to 5. High stigma scores and low social health social scores reflect poorer outcomes. Subjects (ages ≥13 years) with atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis (PS), acne, cutaneous lupus (CL), or alopecia areata (AA) consented to the study and completed SMASH, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Patient Global Impression of Severity (PGIS) at two visits. Clinicians reported disease severity using Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) at the two visits. All statistical analyses (correlations, two-tailed ANOVA) were done at a significance level of 0.05. Of 113 consented subjects (28 AD; 30 PS; 28 acne; 15 CL; 12 AA), 107 completed both visits. Most subjects were white (80.5%) female with mean age of 40.8 years and moderate disease severity (36%). Patient reported measures improved significantly between visits: SMASH Stigma (p=0.033), Social Health (p=0.001), DLQI (p=0.0004) and PGIS ( p=0.009) However, for the 38 subjects with IGA scores at both visits, IGA did not change (p=0.468). SMASH correlated with DLQI (r≥0.566, p<0.0001) and PGIS (r≥0.389, p<0.0001), but not with IGA. Despite similar IGA scores, females reported greater perceived stigma (p=0.040), less social comfort (p=0.004), and lower quality of life (p<0.0001) than males. There were too few transgender patients (n=2) for comparisons. We conclude that patient’s perceived disease severity reflects their social health more than clinician-rated disease severity and that the impact of skin disease on social health differs by gender. Utilization of SMASH in future studies can help uncover how social health is modified by treatment and disease course.

ESDR132 - Perceived stigma & social health in patients with chronic skin disease

The scientific meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) is held yearly, usually in September. With an international attendance of more than 1000 skin scientists from around the globe, the four-day event includes short oral presentations from peer-reviewed abstracts, keynote lectures from international experts, sponsored symposia, satellite programs, educational events as well as an important focus on posters, networking and building collaborations amongst scientists. For more information about this year’s meeting visit our website.