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Assessing coping, loneliness, resilience and partner burden in patients with skin conditions: protocol for a multicentre cross-sectional study across 23 dermatology centres in 15 European countries

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Introduction Members of the European Society for Dermatology and Psychiatry (ESDaP) are interested in the connection between the psyche and presence and severity of skin diseases. Two former multicentre studies initiated by ESDaP-members focused on the psychological burden of patients with skin diseases in comparison to healthy skin controls. The previous studies focused on depression, anxiety, stress, perceived stigmatisation and body dysmorphia. The main objective of the present study is to assess coping, loneliness and resilience in patients with skin conditions and to compare them with healthy skin controls. In the literature, these aspects have rarely been investigated in patients with skin conditions. A secondary aim is to examine the impact of the skin disease on the patient’s partner and to analyse the factors associated with this possible impact on quality of life (QoL) (QoL of patients, socio-demographic, disease-related and psychological parameters). Methods and analyses Data will be collected in 23 study centres across 15 European countries. At each study centre, 250 outpatients with different skin conditions as well as 125 healthy skin controls will be recruited, resulting in a total sample size of n=8625. In addition to a background questionnaire to gather socio-demographic and disease-related data, validated questionnaires to measure coping (Brief-Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced Inventory (Brief-COPE)), loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale 8 (ULS-8)), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), sleep disorders (Insomnia Severity Index), symptoms of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) and anxiety (Generalised Anxiety Disorder-2), general health (Visual Analogue Scale of the EuroQol 5-Dimension) and a skin health questionnaire (Skin Well-Being Scale) will be applied. In patients, health-related quality of life will additionally be examined by means of the Dermatology Life Quality Index. All patients with a partner will additionally receive the Family Reported Outcome Measure 16, a questionnaire that is supposed to be filled in by their partners to evaluate the impact of disease on the partner. Ethics and dissemination The study protocol was approved by the University of Giessen in March 2026 (approval number 1435/2026) and will be approved by each participating recruitment centre. Study results will be disseminated by publication of the results at (inter-) national conferences and in scientific journals.

Source: BMJ Open

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2026-121489

Authors: Christina Schut, Francesca Sampogna, Jörg Kupfer, Florence Dalgard, Laurent Misery, Emilie Brenaut