The role of the clinical and psychological symptoms of mastocytosis in the patient's quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with mastocytosis have various clinical and psychological symptoms, for example, life-threatening anaphylactic reactions or anxiety, resulting in decreased quality of life (QoL).

Aim: To assess the clinical and psychological symptoms (such as depression, anxiety) as well as the quality of life and satisfaction with life in patients with mastocytosis.

Material and methods: The study group included 85 patients with mastocytosis (57 women and 28 men) treated at the Department of Allergology, Medical University of Gdansk, Poland. The measures employed in the study were the following: HADS-M, QLMS, and Cantril ladder.

Results: Among clinical symptoms that occurred in the studied group, only allergy differentiated between the patients in terms of their QoL. Patients experiencing allergy symptoms presented lower QoL in the area of leisure time. The study findings indicate that 27.1% of participants experience anxiety, 12.9% experience depression, 15.3% present low satisfaction with the current life, and 10.6% express low satisfaction with life in the next 4 weeks. General QoL in mastocytosis, as well as the four areas of QoL in mastocytosis, remain positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and irritability, as well as negatively correlated with the satisfaction with current life and life in 4 weeks' time.

Conclusions: Patients who experience allergy symptoms have a lower level of QoL in the area of leisure time. Having more obstacles in various areas of life is associated with anxiety, depression, irritability, and low satisfaction with life. Learning how to overcome them can potentially improve the patients' QoL.

Keywords: clinical symptoms; mastocytosis; psychological symptoms; quality of life.

Figure 1

Classification of mastocytosis: current status and outlook toward the future (Valent et al. Cancer Res 2017)