Home / Publications / Mental Health and Psychosocial Burden Among Patients with Skin of Color Living with Vitiligo: Findings from the Global VALIANT Study

Publication - 2025Mental Health and Psychosocial Burden Among Patients with Skin of Color Living with Vitiligo: Findings from the Global VALIANT Study

Publication

Mental Health and Psychosocial Burden Among Patients with Skin of Color Living with Vitiligo: Findings from the Global VALIANT Study

Vitiligo is a disease that causes white patches to appear on the skin. The study described here analyzed whether vitiligo is more difficult for people with darker skin. To answer this question, the authors used data from a large patient survey called the VALIANT study. Over 3000 people living with vitiligo from 17 countries responded to the survey, and close to half had darker skin.

People with darker skin tended to report that larger areas of their body were covered in white patches, suggesting that people with fairer skin may underestimate the extent of their vitiligo. In addition, people with darker skin reported a worse effect on their daily life than those with fairer skin; were more likely to be discouraged and worried about their disease spreading; and were more likely to feel that their vitiligo affected what clothes they wore or what activities they participated in. People with darker skin reported more difficulty with their careers and were more likely to be anxious or depressed. Even among people with darker skin (three types), effects of vitiligo were worst among those with the darkest skin.

These results show that vitiligo is a difficult disease for all people living with vitiligo, but the burden is most amplified among people with darker skin.

Full text   

Pearl Grimes, Iltefat H. Hamzavi, Kristen Bibeau, John E. Harris, Nanja van Geel, Davinder Parsad, Jackie Gardner, Yan Valle, Gaone Tlhong Matewa, Jessy Gao, Haobo Ren & Khaled Ezzedine



All Publications

FAQOther Questions

  • Diabetes and Vitiligo: Is There a Connection?

    Yes, there appears to be a real connection between vitiligo and diabetes, especially type 1 diabetes. A recent study using UK Biobank data also found an association with...

  • Белые пятна на теле? Витилиго?

    Гид по Витилиго — ваш компас в лабиринте загадочной болезни и непростых решений. Здесь всё по-честному, по делу и на понятном языке.  Вы найдёте здесь: Объяснения, что прои...

  • What are the best predictors for therapy response in vitiligo?

    A fair question. Also a slightly annoying one, because dermatology loves nuance and patients usually want something more like a weather forecast. Still, a few factors do show up...