Quality of life
We found significant differences between the two groups regarding
quality of life (Table 2). When comparing the AE-QoL questionnaire,
quality of life was significantly lower in CSU-AE (median, IQR: 37
[10–65]) than in CHA (18 (4–40), p=0.005). Across all dimensions,
the AEQoL scores were significantly higher (worse QoL) in CSU-AE. In
both groups, the most affected dimension was fear/shame (38 [0–58]
in CHA vs. 50 [21–79] in CSU-AE, p=0.031), followed by fatigue/mood
(15 [0–40] in CHA vs. 35 (0–65) in CSU-AE, p=0.012), functioning
(0 [0–19] in CHA vs. 25 (0–56) in CSU-AE, p< 0.001) and
nutrition (0 [0–13] in CHA vs. 25 (0–50) in CSU-AE, p=0.007).
Across most dimensions, the mean AEQoL scores were generally higher
among patients reporting a higher disease severity AAS7 score (Figure 1A
and B). This finding is reflected in a moderate positive correlation
between AAS7 and AE-QoL (Spearman’s rho= 0.3892, p<0.001)
For CSU-AE, the median score of the CU-Q2oL
questionnaire in CSU-AE patients was 49 (IQR: 27–66). We found a very
strong positive correlation between AE-QoL and CU-Q2oL
(Spearman’s rho= 0.8809, p<0.001) and a moderate positive
correlation between UAS7 and CU-Q2oL (Spearman’s rho=
0.5455, p=0.002).