Study of health related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Introduction:Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic disorder associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Patients with active RA suffer from significant decline in functional capacity and many become work disabled within five years, from onset of symptoms despite treatment. Measureable outcome of these can be done with the help of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) questionnaires. There is a need to study the HRQoL in RA patients, as very less data is available from Indian sub continent. Objective: To study of health related quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted over a period of six months in Rheumatology unit of Medicine Department at JSS Hospital, Mysore, approved by the Institutional Human Ethics Committee. Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28 were administered to assess the HRQoL in RA patients. Morisky’s Medication Adherence Scale (MMA) was used to assess the medication adherence. The correlation between the results of the questionnaires was analyzed using Pearson Correlation Coefficient method. Result:Total 105 patients who met the study criteria were enrolled. A statistically significant (P<0.05) correlation between the HAQ, MMA and DAS questionnaires was observed in the study. The early RA patients’ had a ‘mild to moderate’ disease activity with ‘good to fine’ mental health. The old RA patients had ‘moderate to severe’ disease activity with ‘fine to bad’ mental health. Conclusion :The patients with high MMA score had a better HRQoL and showed moderate decrease in the DAS and HAQ score.