Knowledge and attitudes towards vitiligo in the general population: A survey based on the simulation video of a real situation

Publication date: Available online 28 November 2017
Source:Dermatologica Sinica
Author(s): Premjit Juntongjin, Chulaphan Rachawong, Winitra Nuallaong
Background/ObjectiveVitiligo is a common pigmentary disorder. Significant psychological effects and social discrimination was noticed among vitiligo patients. The severity of the negative impact is related to the society's attitude and knowledge. Therefore, this study aims to investigate knowledge and attitudes among general population towards vitiligo.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was created using a survey based on the simulation video of the real situation. The participants were recruited from healthcare and non-healthcare workers attending Thammasat Hospital and Thammasat University. Demographic data, knowledge and attitudes towards the person in the video were recorded.ResultsTotal 101 subjects completed the questionnaires. Less than one-fourth of the participants recognized this condition as vitiligo and realized that it was a hereditary disease. Around two-third known that it did not transmit via direct contact. In attitude perceptions, the lowest attitude score was in starting to date a vitiligo victim while the highest attitude score was found when individuals already married with vitiligo patients. Moreover, sufficient knowledge tended to have more positive attitudes towards the disease significantly (p < 0.004).ConclusionsMisconceptions about vitiligo in this study seems to be higher than previous reports. This may be due to the visualized based questionnaires instead of asking from the word 'vitiligo' directly. Therefore, educational knowledge about disease recognition, causes and mode of transmission should be encouraged for public.