• Xiaofei Mao and Qiuning Sun.
• Department of Dermatology, Peking Union Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China.
• Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2014 Dec 2; 94 (44): 3471-4.

ObjectiveTo evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) using health assessment questionnaire-disability index (HAQ-DI), visual analog scale (VAS) and scleroderma assessment questionnaire (SAQ).MethodsThe questionnaires of HAQ-DI, VAS and SAQ were administered to 50 controls and 90 SSc patients from September to December 2013. And SSc patients were also evaluated for subset (limited & diffuse SSc), age, disease duration, autoantibodies and skin & internal organ involvement.ResultsThe physical summary scores of HAQ-DI in dressing, cleaning and hand functions domains were higher in SSc patients than those in controls (all P < 0.05). As for VAS, the specific clinical manifestations (Pain,0.60 (0.20-1.40); Raynaud's phenomenon, 9.00(4.00-11.00); finger ulcers, 1.00(0.00-5.00); gastrointestinal symptoms, 5.00(1.00-6.50); respiratory symptoms, 3.00(0.00-6.00)) of SSc patients impacted their HRQOL. SAQ showed higher scores in blood vascular, respiratory, digestive and musculoskeletal systems for SSc patients (1.00(0.75-1.50), 0.50(0.33-0.67), 0.40(0.20-0.80), 0.13(0.00-0.38) vs 0.00(0.00-0.00), all P < 0.05).ConclusionsHRQOL is impaired in patients with SSc, especially in physical domains. And higher scores in SSc patients with specific organ involvement suggest that severe disease has worse HRQOL.

11 keywords...

hide…