Correlation between Family APGAR scores and health-related quality of life of Filipino elderly patients with knee osteoarthritis

Objectives This study aims to describe the clinical profile of Filipino patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) and correlate their health-related quality of life (HrQoL) with perceived family support. Methods This is a cross-sectional, analytical study of patients seen at the Philippine General Hospital Arthritis Clinic diagnosed with knee OA using the American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. Questionnaires for the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) v.3.1 and Family APGAR (Adaptation, Partnership, Growth, Affection and Resolve) were self-administered. Pearson's correlation, analysis of variance and Bonferroni tests were applied. Results Ninety patients with 3 : 1 female-to-male ratio, mean age of 70.14 years qualified for the study. Mean body mass index was 23.3. Mean duration of symptoms was 5.9 years. Fifty-three considered their family to be highly functional, 28 moderately dysfunctional and nine severely dysfunctional. Analysis showed that Family APGAR is moderately and inversely correlated with pain (r = -0.3373; P = 0.0002), stiffness (r = -0.3642; P = 0.0004), function (r = -0.3646; P = 0.0004) and total WOMAC scores (r = -0.3880; P = 0.0002). Likewise, there were significant differences of total WOMAC scores in the pain, stiffness and function subscales (P = 0.0076, P = 0.0032, P = 0.0165 and P = 0.0159, respectively) between patients in highly functional and severely dysfunctional families, and between highly and moderately functional families. As Family APGAR scores increased, there was significant decrease in all WOMAC subscales. Conclusion We described the clinical profile of 90 elderly patients with knee OA and the relationship of HrQoL to Family APGAR scores. This paper concludes that higher Family APGAR scores in this population correlated with better HrQoL.