The creation of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire facilitated many studies on the impact of skin diseases on patients’ quality of life (QoL). Many national and international guidelines recommend QoL assessment in dermatology, and some of them contain detailed recommendations on treatment goals and changes of treatment approaches based on DLQI score banding and minimal clinically important difference. The methodology of QoL in strument development and validation is constantly becoming more rigorous. Initiatives on selection of core outcome sets for skin diseases are focused on clinical trials but may also be beneficial for clinicians. There are various benefits of using QoL information in clinical practice, but experience of this is very limited at the moment. QoL assessment in dermatology is a rapidly developing field with a gradual shift from theory to practice.

Acne causes profound negative psychological and social effects on the quality of life (QoL) of patients. The European Dermatology Forum S3‐Guideline for the Treatment of Acne recommended adopting a QoL measure as an integral part of acne management. Because of constantly growing interest in health‐related QoL assessment in acne and because of the high impact of acne on patients’ lives, the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Task Force on QoL and Patient Oriented Outcomes and the Task Force on Acne, Rosacea and Hidradenitis Suppurativa have documented the QoL instruments that have been used in acne patients, with information on validation, purposes of their usage, description of common limitations and mistakes in their usage and overall recommendations.

Knowledge on hidradenitis suppurativa/acne inversa (HS) is rapidly increasing. HS has a profound impact on patients and their family life. Several factors, such as comorbidities, unemployment and HS severity, make this impact even more severe. The most widely used instrument to measure this impact is the dermatology-specific DLQI. We also identified six HS-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) instruments. Of them, HIDRAdisk, HSIA, HiSQOL and HSQoL-24 are better validated but there is still lack of experience of its use. Several treatment methods showed positive effect on patients’ HRQoL. Surgery remains a method with a substantial positive effect on HRQoL. Several studies confirming a positive effect of adalimumab on the HRQoL of patients with HS were published during the last three years. Data on the influence of several other biologics on HRQoL of HS patients are controversial or based on studies with a small number of patients.