Stephen L   Walker

Skin-related neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) affect nearly 1 billion people worldwide, contributing to significant physical and psychological morbidity. The DLQI suite of patient-reported outcome measures is widely used to assess the impact of skin diseases on individuals’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL), but it has not been validated for use in skin-related NTDs. The new strategic framework for the control of skin-related NTDs identified the socioeconomic and mental health impact of skin NTDs as research gaps to be addressed. Robust assessments of HRQoL will be an essential part of this research and will require validated appropriate tools, including the DLQI.