Health-related quality of life in people with rheumatoid arthritis: Characterization of studies published from 2003 to 2013

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) decreases physical activity, affects functionality, and increases social and psychological stress, with subsequent deterioration in the quality of life. Objective: To characterize the literature on quality of life in patients with RA. Methods: Systematic review of the literature in four multidisciplinary databases, using a comprehensive and reproducible protocol; analyses were based on frequencies. Results: 244 studies were characterized, out of them 55.3% were done in Europe and 25.4%, in America, of which 60% were form the United States; 59% corresponded to assessments of quality of life as the primary outcome; 29.1% were intervention studies that measured quality of life as secondary outcome, and 11.9% were scale validation studies. The primary measurement tools were Medical Outcome Study Short - Form 36 (51.6%) and Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire (39.7%). About half of the studies did not do clinical staging of patients with RA. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the interest to investigate the quality of life in patients with RA, the availability of multiples generic and specific scales for such purpose, and the concentration of publications in Europe and North America.

Keywords

• Health
• Quality of Life
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Systematic Review