Health-related quality of life in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in Midwest Brazil

Introduction/Objective: Evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and the association between QOL domains, measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life Group (WHOQOL-100) assessment instrument, and disease activity. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional analytic study involving 95 patients with SLE, according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria, aged 20-49 years, attended at the University Center of Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS. We used the following instruments: demographic and clinical data collection form and WHOQOL-100 instrument. Evaluation of disease activity was performed by SLEDAI. On statistical analysis, we applied Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation. Results: Group-case: 79 female with mild to moderate SLE activity (SLEDAI = 1-10) and severe activity (SLEDAI >= 11). Control group: 16 female with inactive SLE (SLEDAI = 0). All domains of WHOQOL-100 proved to be affected, with significant difference (P < 0.005) between the case and control groups in which there was a better perception of QOL in the domain Spirituality and worst perception of QOL in the domain Environment. When confronting QOL domains with education, we detected a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the Physical, Psychological, Level of independence, and Environment domains. The comparison between QOL and disease activity was significant (P < 0.005) in three domains: Physical, Psychological, and Environment. Conclusion: SLE with intense activity determines a worse QOL condition than inactive SLE. The assessment of QOL enables the knowledge of disease and treatment impact in a contextualized way, which can render more appropriate and more comprehensive interventions.