Quality of Life in Patients with Melasma
Keywords:
Melasma, Quality of life, DLQI, MASI scale, Human melanogenesis dysfunctionAbstract
Introduction: Melasma is a skin disorder that causes brown spots on the face, especially in women and people with dark skin. This situation can have a significant impact on the patient's quality of life, including issues with self-confidence, mental strain, and difficulty in social and familial relationships.
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of life in patients with melasma.
Methods: We conducted a study analyzing the relationship between the severity of melasma and quality of life using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire.
Results: The study found that severity of melasma, which was measured by the Melasma Area Severity Index (MASI), was closely related to the degree of maximum darkness in the affected area. The researchers also found a modest impact on the quality of life-related to the condition, with DLQI scores averaging 6.16 and a strong correlation between MASI scores and quality of life.
Conclusions: Healthcare professionals should also consider the emotional and societal consequences of skin pigmentation conditions in addition to providing medical and therapeutic interventions. Further research is needed to understand better the complex relationships between different factors and their impact on skin health.
References
Mpofana N, Chibi B, Visser T, Paulse M, Finlayson AJ, Ghuman S, et al. Treatment of Melasma on Darker Skin Types: A Scoping Review. Cosmetics. 2023;10(1):25. DOI:10.3390/cosmetics10010025.
Pandya AG, Hynan LS, Bhore R, Riley FC, Guevara IL, Grimes P, et al. Reliability assessment and validation of the Melasma Area and Severity Index (MASI) and a new modified MASI scoring method. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2011;64(1):78-83. e2. DOI:10.1016/j.jaad.2009.10.051.
Regazzetti C, Sormani L, Debayle D, Bernerd F, Tulic MK, De Donatis GM, et al. Melanocytes sense blue light and regulate pigmentation through opsin-3. J Invest Dermatol. 2018;138(1):171-8. DOI:10.1016/j.jid.2017.07.833.
Sharma R, Mahajan V, Mehta K, Chauhan P, Rawat R, Shiny T. Therapeutic efficacy and safety of oral tranexamic acid and that of tranexamic acid local infiltration with microinjections in patients with melasma: a comparative study. Clin Exp Dermatol. 2017;42(7):728-34. DOI:10.1111/ced.13164.
Pawaskar MD, Parikh P, Markowski T, Mcmichael AJ, Feldman SR, Balkrishnan R. Melasma and its impact on health‐related quality of life in Hispanic women. J Dermatol Treat. 2007;18(1):5-9. DOI:10.1080/09546630601028778.
Rafi S, Iftikhar U, Rani Z, Hussain I. Comparison of efficacy and safety of topical hydroquinone 2% and oral tranexamic acid 500 mg in patients of melasma. J Pak Assoc Dermatol. 2017;27(3):204-13.
Ranjkesh M, Azizifard S, Khosroshahi NG. Comparison of effects of 5% hydroquinone cream plus non-ablative fractional 1540 erbium YAG laser and 5% hydroquinone cream alone in the treatment of melasma. Med J Tabriz Uni Sci. 2021;43(1):29-34. DOI:10.34172/mj.2021.024.
Šitum M, Kolić M, Bolanča Ž, Ljubičić I, Mišanović B. Melasma–updated treatments. Coll Antropol. 2011;35(2):315-8.
Maymone MB, Neamah HH, Wirya SA, Patzelt NM, Secemsky EA, Zancanaro PQ, Vashi NA. The impact of skin hyperpigmentation and hyperchromia on quality of life: A cross-sectional study. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2017;77(4):775-8. DOI:10.1016/j.jaad.2017.05.009.
Zhu Y, Zeng X, Ying J, Cai Y, Qiu Y, Xiang W. Evaluating the quality of life among melasma patients using the MELASQoL scale: A systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2022;17(1):e0262833. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0262833.
Araya M, Kulthanan K, Jiamton S. Clinical characteristics and quality of life of seborrheic dermatitis patients in a tropical country. Indian J Dermatol. 2015;60(5):519. DOI:10.4103/0019-5154.164410.
Ikino JK, Nunes DH, Silva VPMd, Fröde TS, Sens MM. Melasma and assessment of the quality of life in Brazilian women. An Bras Dermatol. 2015;90:196-200. DOI:10.1590/abd1806-4841.20152771
Freitag FM, Cestari T, Leopoldo L, Paludo P, Boza J. Effect of melasma on quality of life in a sample of women living in southern Brazil. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2008;22(6):655-62. DOI:10.1111/j.1468-3083.2007.02472.x.
Dogramaci AC, Havlucu DY, Inandi T, Balkrishnan R. Validation of a melasma quality of life questionnaire for the Turkish language: the MelasQoL-TR study. J Dermatol Treat. 2009;20(2):95-9. DOI:10.1080/09546630802287553.
Misery L, Schmitt A-M, Boussetta S, Rahhali N, Taieb C. Melasma: measure of the impact on quality of life using the French version of MELASQOL after cross-cultural adaptation. Acta Derm Venereol. 2010;90(3):331-2. DOI:10.2340/00015555-0837.
Filoni A, Mariano M, Cameli N. Melasma: How hormones can modulate skin pigmentation. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2019;18(2):458-63. DOI:10.1111/jocd.12877.
Prakash M, Manjunath NC, Deepali B. A descriptive case-control study on assessment of iron profile in patients with and without melasma. Clin Dermatol Rev. 2021;5(2):168-72. DOI:10.4103/CDR.CDR_90_20.
Jusuf NK, Putra IB, Mahdalena M. Is there a correlation between severity of melasma and quality of life? Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019;7(16):2615. DOI:10.3889/oamjms.2019.407.
Akulinina I, Dodina M, Osadchuk M, Degtyarevskaya T. Optimizing diagnostic and therapeutic measures for different types of melasma based on the biophysical characteristics of facial skin. J Cosmet Laser Ther. 2023:1-8. DOI:10.1080/14764172.2023.2230531.
Sarkar R, Ghunawat S, Narang I, Verma S, Garg V, Dua R. Role of broad‐spectrum sunscreen alone in the improvement of melasma area severity index (MASI) and Melasma Quality of Life Index in melasma. J Cosmet Dermatol. 2019;18(4):1066-73. DOI:10.1111/jocd.12911.
Dominguez AR, Balkrishnan R, Ellzey AR, Pandya AG. Melasma in Latina patients: cross-cultural adaptation and validation of a quality-of-life questionnaire in Spanish language. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2006;55(1):59-66. DOI:10.1016/j.jaad.2006.01.049.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Reza Almasi Ghale , Maryam Nasimi, Saeideh Alidoost, Marjan Talebi, Rouzbeh Almasi Ghale , Mehregan Rahmani, Farkhondeh Pouresmaeili

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Dermatology Practical & Conceptual applies a Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL) to all works we publish (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Authors retain the copyright for their published work.