The Impact of Onychopathies on Quality of Life: A Hospital-based, Cross-sectional Study

Onychopathies or nail disorders are associated with social stigma and causes limitation of daily activities by hampering the function of both fingers and toes.

To evaluate the impact of onychopathies on quality of life (QoL) and compare the severity of impact on QoL in various nail disorders.

A hospital-based cross-sectional study consisting of 540 patients with onychopathies was conducted in the dermatology outpatient department. Patients were requested to complete a nail-specific QoL questionnaire consisting of 24 and 16 questions, respectively, for fingernails (group F) and toenails (group T) with five possible responses to each question. A score of 1-5 was given to each response. Statistical analysis was done to compare the impact of QoL on the different types of onychopathies.

We found that onychopathies have a significant impact on QoL. QoL was significantly more affected when multiple nails were involved (P = 0.020 for group F and P = 0.001 for group T). QoL impact was statistically more significant in women (P = 0.038 for group F and P < 0.001 for group T) and in younger people aged <20 years in group F and 20-39 years in group T (P < 0.001 for both groups F and T). Patients with onychomycosis, structural nail defects, and psoriasis had a more significant impact than other diseases (P < 0.001 for both groups F and T).

Onychopathies have a significant adverse effect on QoL because of their serious physical, psychological and social impact. Hence, clinicians should treat the nail disorders with utmost seriousness.