Internalized Stigma in Patients with Acne Vulgaris, Vitiligo, and Alopecia Areata

Özet

Background: Internalized stigma, another aspect of stigma, is the adoption of negative attitudes and stereotypes of the societyregarding people’s illness. Aims and Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the internalized stigma stateof acne vulgaris (AV), vitiligo, and alopecia areata (AA) patients and to identify the factors influencing internalized stigma.Materials and Methods: A total of 150 patients (50 AV, 50 vitiligo, and 50 AA) who applied to the outpatient clinic wereconsecutively enrolled in this study. The sociodemographic characteristics of the patients were recorded. In addition, patientsanswered the Internalized Stigma Scale (ISS), the Dermatology Life Quality Index, the Perceived Health Status, the GeneralHealth Questionnaire, and the Acne Quality of Life Scale. Results: In this study, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the wholeISS scale was calculated as 0.91 for AV, 0.91 for vitiligo, and 0.93 for AA. Conclusion: The present study indicates that patientswith AV, AA, and vitiligo internalize the negative stereotype judgment of the society for themselves. High levels of internalizedstigma in the studied patients presented a parallel trend to the negative quality of life (QoL). Therefore, internalized stigma maybe one of the major factors affecting the QoL in these diseases.