AB0279 FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

Background Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) has an important impact on patients ‘quality of life (QoL), affecting both physical and mental domains of well-being. Objectives This study aims to assess the QoL of RA patients based on the Short Form Health Survey-36 (SF-36) questionnaire and to evaluate the associated factors. Methods This is a cross-sectional study including patients with RA disease. Each patient answered to the SF-36 Questionnaire assessing quality of life, which evaluates 8 domains: physical functioning (PF), bodily pain (BP), role limitations due to physical health problems (RP), role limitations due to personal or emotional problems (RE), mental health (MH), social functioning (SF), energy/fatigue or vitality (VT), and general health perceptions (GH). Results We included 78 patients with a mean age of 52.9±11.3 years and a female preponderance (88.5%). The mean duration of disease progression was 11.1±9.5 years. The average of patient global health, numbers of swollen and tender joints were respectively 51.4 ± 2.2, 3.7± 3.2 and 8.6 ± 7.6. Two thirds of patients had moderate to severe disease activity (DAS 28 >3.2). The mean Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was 1.3 ± 0.8. Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) showed that 16.7% of patients had anxiety and 18% had depression. The SF-36 global score was 52.3 ± 24.8 [15.5-92.8] with an impaired QoL (SF-36 <66.7) in 51 (65.4%) patients. Among the eight domains, the most affected domain was the “role limitations due to physical health problems” (RP) with a mean of 45.4±20.3. Impaired QoL was associated with disease activity parameters: number of swollen joints (p<0.01), number of tender joints (p<0.01), patient global health (p=0.02) and DAS 28 score (p<0.01). Patients with high functional disability (HAQ ≥ 1), high scores of depression and anxiety had poor quality of life (p<0.01). No significant associations were found between QoL and age, gender or duration of disease activity. Conclusion RA has a significant physical, psychological and social impact on affected patients. This impairment of QoL was associated with disease activity, functional impact and psychological disorders. Therefore, it is necessary to improve these parameters for a better management of the disease.