Quality Of Life And Related Variables In Chinese Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objectives This study aimed to explore the status of quality of life and investigate its potential risk factors in Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA)from the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University to provide theoretical basis for future targeted intervention of these patients.Methods At baseline,sociodemographic and disease characteristics [e.g.,gender,age(years),marital status,education,employment status,income/person/month(Yuan),disease duration(years)] were recorded.RA patients underwent standardized laboratory examinations,and completed Sharp score for radiographic damage of hand joints,the visual analogue scale(VAS)for pain,the 28-joint Disease Activity Score(DAS28)for disease activity,the Health Assessment Questionnaire-disability index(HAQ-DI)for functional disability,the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale(HADS)for psychological status,and the Short Form 36 health survey(SF-36)for quality of life.Independent sample t-test,Mann–Whitney U-test,Kruskal-Wallis H-test,Pearson correlation analyses and linear regression modeling were used to analyze the data.Results 161 RA patients were included in this study.Radiographic findings revealed that almost 47.2%(n = 76)of patients had hand joint destruction(Sharp score > 0);Approximately 22.4% RA patients in mainland China experienced functional disability(defined as a HAQ-DI score ?1);31.1% RA patients were anxiety,and 28.0% had depression.The score of the SF-36 physical components summary(PCS)and mental components summary(MCS)were 41.1 ± 23.0 and 58.1 ± 21.2,which were significantly lower than the Chinese norms.There were significant correlations among age,BMI,marital status,income,comorbidities,hospitalization,pain,disease activity,laboratory indexes,the use of corticosteroids and biologics and quality of life.Participants with hand joint destruction tended to have lower quality of life compared to individuals without hand joint destruction;Participants with functional disability tended to have lower quality of life compared to individuals without functional disability;Participants with anxiety/depression tended to have lower quality of life compared to individuals without anxiety/depression(P<0.05).Meanwhile,linear regression analysis revealed that marital status,hospitalization,CRP,pain,disease activity,the use of biologics,functional disability,anxiety,and depression were the most potential powerful predictors of the quality of life in Chinese RA patients.Conclusions The prevalence of hand joint destruction,functional disability,depression and anxiety was high in RA patients.The quality of life was poor in Chinese RA patients.There were significant correlations among socioeconomic status,disease activity,functional disability,anxiety,depression and quality of life.Medical staff should pay attention to RA patients' physical and physiological health,to provide effective solutions.