Life course impairment and quality of life over time

The concepts of cumulative life course impairment (CLCI) and health-related quality of life (QoL) are analyzed, in order to find shared and divergent aspects. The concept of QoL includes the patients' perception of their health and their personal experiences concerning the psychosocial impact of the disease on their life. CLCI aims to investigate the impact of a chronic disease on the milestones of life, such as education, work, relationships, children, social life, (briefly - on the whole trajectory of life) and on how the disease influenced the possibility of patients of living their life up to its full potential. QoL is a cross-sectional measure, while CLCI takes into account the lifetime. However, it is clear that the possibility of reaching one's full life potential and QoL at a certain time are correlated. There are few studies in dermatology in this field; however, both in the case of atopic dermatitis and of vitiligo it has been shown that patients with a severe condition in childhood endured severe psychosocial and physical consequences in adulthood and experienced a profound negative impact of the disease on their current quality of life. It is thus important to take into account both CLCI and QoL when evaluating the impact of a chronic condition on a patient's life.