OBJECTIVES: To assess the consequences of dermatological diseases on the quality of life of the patients. METHODS: Every Belgian Dermatologist received a sample of 30 questionnaires including the DLQI and the SF-12 that they distributed during the “National Week of Dermatology” to the first 30 patients coming to the consulting room. The SF-12 is a generic measure of health status, composed of two dimensions, a Physical one (PCS-12) and a Mental one (MCS-12). The lower the score, the more the quality of life is affected. The DLQI is a questionnaire designed to measure and compare disability in different skin conditions. The higher the score, the more the quality of life is affected. RESULTS: The male/female ratio was 37%/63% and the mean age was 46.76 years. Concerning the patients ‘state of health, MCS-12 and PCS-12 were respectively 43.8 (SD=11.3) and 48.1 (SD=9.4); with a significant difference in the mental dimension between Flemish (46.4, SD=10.6) and Walloons (40.7, SD=11.3) (p=0.0001). The quality of life score, assessed by the DLQI, shows a quality of life’s impairment with a score of 6.1 (SD=5.9). CONCLUSIONS: Our population reflect a QoL impairment comparable to the ranges obtained when initially validating the DLQI; i.e. for patients suffering psoriasis the DLQI mean score was 8.9, it was 4.3 for patients suffering from acne, and 6.7 for patients with viral warts. Concerning patients’ health status we observe for every patient, whatever his skin disease was, an important impairment in the mental dimension of the SF-12 compared to a standard population and a slight one for the physical dimension (except for patients with acne who are younger, mean age=28 years old).