Internalized stigma in patients with acne vulgaris, vitiligo, and alopecia areata

Background: Internalized stigma, another aspect of stigma, is the adoption of negative attitudes and stereotypes of the society regarding people's illness. Aims and Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to investigate the internalized stigma state of 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 were consecutively enrolled in this study. The sociodemographic characteristics of the patients were recorded. In addition, patients answered the Internalized Stigma Scale (ISS), the Dermatology Life Quality Index, the Perceived Health Status, the General Health Questionnaire, and the Acne Quality of Life Scale. Results: In this study, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole ISS scale was calculated as 0.91 for AV, 0.91 for vitiligo, and 0.93 for AA. Conclusion: The present study indicates that patients with AV, AA, and vitiligo internalize the negative stereotype judgment of the society for themselves. High levels of internalized stigma in the studied patients presented a parallel trend to the negative quality of life (QoL). Therefore, internalized stigma may be one of the major factors affecting the QoL in these diseases.