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. 2019 Jan 15;89(4):541-557.
doi: 10.23750/abm.v89i4.7298.

The impact of different rheumatic diseases on health-related quality of life: a comparison with a selected sample of healthy individuals using SF-36 questionnaire, EQ-5D and SF-6D utility values

Fausto Salaffi  1 , Marco Di Carlo, Marina Carotti, Sonia Farah, Alessandro Ciapetti, Marwin Gutierrez
Affiliations

The impact of different rheumatic diseases on health-related quality of life: a comparison with a selected sample of healthy individuals using SF-36 questionnaire, EQ-5D and SF-6D utility values

Fausto Salaffi et al. Acta Biomed. .

Abstract

Background: Given the high prevalence of rheumatic diseases, there is a need to determine which conditions have the greatest impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The main aim of this study was to explore the HRQoL scores among 14 different rheumatic diseases and to compare them with the results of a selecting sample of healthy controls.

Methods: 2633 patients of an ongoing cohort have been enrolled. Rheumatic diseases were classified into five diagnostic groups: inflammatory rheumatic diseases, connective tissue disorders, symptomatic peripheral osteoarthritis, soft tissue disorders, and osteoporosis. For comparison were used 649 healthy controls. The HRQoL was evaluated with the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36), the EuroQol five Dimensions (EQ-5D) questionnaire, and the Short-Form six Dimensions (SF-6D) questionnaire.

Results: The five major rheumatic disease groups, compared to healthy people, significantly impaired all eight health concepts of the SF-36 (p <0.0001). Similar results were found for EQ-5D and SF-6D. The patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases have poorer self-reported health status than those without arthritis in all domains of living, but particularly with respect to scales measuring aspects of physical functioning or mobility, role limitation due to physical health problems and usual activities, and bodily pain. Rheumatoid arthritis had the largest negative impact on HRQoL, followed by fibromyalgia, vertebral fractures due to osteoporosis, hip osteoarthritis, and systemic sclerosis.

Conclusions: Our results indicate that rheumatic diseases have a clearly detrimental effect on the HRQoL, and physical domain is more impaired than mental and social ones.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) subscales in patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Legend: spydergrams with the comparison for the eight subscales of the SF-36 can vary between 0 and 100, higher values reflecting better health-related quality of life. Mean SF-36 scores of the healthy controls (n=649) are also shown. PF=physical functioning; RP=role limitations due to physical function; BP=bodily pain; GH=general health; MH=mental health; RE=role limitations due to emotional health; SF=social functioning; VT=vitality
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) subscales in patients with connective tissue disorders. Legend: spydergrams with the comparison for the eight subscales of the SF-36 can vary between 0 and 100, higher values reflecting better health-related quality of life. Mean SF-36 scores of the healthy controls (n=649) are also shown. PF=physical functioning; RP=role limitations due to physical function; BP=bodily pain; GH=general health; MH=mental health; RE=role limitations due to emotional health; SF=social functioning; VT=vitality
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) subscales in patients with symptomatic peripheral osteoarthritis. Legend: spydergrams with the comparison for the eight subscales of the SF-36 can vary between 0 and 100, higher values reflecting better health-related quality of life. Mean SF-36 scores of the healthy controls (n=649) are also shown. OA=osteoarthritis; PF=physical functioning; RP=role limitations due to physical function; BP=bodily pain; GH=general health; MH=mental health; RE=role limitations due to emotional health; SF=social functioning; VT=vitality
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) subscales in patients with soft tissue disorders. Legend: spydergrams with the comparison for the eight subscales of the SF-36 can vary between 0 and 100, higher values reflecting better health-related quality of life. Mean SF-36 scores of the healthy controls (n=649) are also shown. PF=physical functioning; RP=role limitations due to physical function; BP=bodily pain; GH=general health; MH=mental health; RE=role limitations due to emotional health; SF=social functioning; VT=vitality
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) subscales in patients with osteoporosis. Legend: spydergrams with the comparison for the eight subscales of the SF-36 can vary between 0 and 100, higher values reflecting better health-related quality of life. Mean SF-36 scores of the healthy controls (n=649) are also shown. OP: osteoporosis; PF=physical functioning; RP=role limitations due to physical function; BP=bodily pain; GH=general health; MH=mental health; RE=role limitations due to emotional health; SF=social functioning; VT=vitality
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
The Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36 (SF-36) physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) scores in all rheumatic diseases. Bar graph where higher values reflect better health-related quality of life. OP=osteoporosis; OA=osteoarthritis; SPA=spondyloarthritis
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
The EuroQol five Dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D) and the Short-Form six Dimensions (SF-6D) utility scores in all rheumatic diseases. Bar graph showing the comparison between EQ-5D and SF-6D scores in all rheumatic diseases. OP=osteoporosis; OA=osteoarthritis; SPA=spondyloarthritis
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