Open AccessAssessment of health-related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and analysis of its change during csDMARDS and bDMARDS therapy after one year of follow-up
Author(s) -
Vladimira Boyadzhieva,
Nikolay Stoilov,
Румен Стоилов
Publication year - 2019
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.35465/27.3.2019.pp29-43
Subject(s) - medicine , rheumatoid arthritis , quality of life (healthcare) , physical therapy , nursing
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disabling systemic autoimmune disease of the musculoskeletal system, which significantly impairs the quality of life of patients. The aim of this study is to evaluate the quality of life of patients with RA using standardized HAQ-DI, SF-36, EQ-5D, RAQoL questionnaires and analyze its change after one year of treatment with conventional synthetic and biological medical products. For the purpose of the study, 220 patients were selected and monitored. Of these, 96 patients were treated with csDMARDS divided into 5 groups and 124 patients treated with biological medicinal products divided into 6 groups. All patients completed the standardized questionnaires at the initial visit, at 6 and 12 months. The results are calculated using licensed calculators. A significant improvement in quality of life was observed in all groups of patients up to the 6th month of the follow-up period, after which, until the 12th month of follow-up, a significant improvement was observed only in those receiving biological treatment evaluated by HAQ-DI, SF-36 and EQ-5D. In contrast to the results obtained with the other three indicators (HAQ, SF-36, EQ-5D) for patients treated with csDMARDS, the RAQоL score in the disease-specific questionnaire showed a significant improvement in their quality of life from 6 months to 12 months (p = 0.009).