Disease control and health-related quality of life in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

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Michael Seid1, Lisa Opipari, Bin Huang

  • 1Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039, USA. michael.seid@cchmc.org

Arthritis and Rheumatism
|February 28, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Many children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) experience suboptimal health-related quality of life (HRQOL), even with minimal symptoms or biologic treatment. Assessing HRQOL is crucial regardless of clinical status in JIA patients.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Rheumatology
  • Quality of Life Research
  • Clinical Symptomatology

Background:

  • Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) significantly impacts children's lives.
  • Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a critical outcome measure in chronic pediatric conditions.
  • Variability in HRQOL among JIA patients, even those with minimal symptoms, warrants investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate health-related quality of life (HRQOL) variability in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).
  • To assess HRQOL in JIA patients with no or minimal clinical symptoms.
  • To evaluate HRQOL in a subgroup of polyarticular JIA patients treated with biologic agents for 12 months.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of a JIA patient database (n=524, 2,354 patient visits).
  • Defined patient samples based on minimal/no symptoms across four key measures.
  • Utilized the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) to determine suboptimal HRQOL percentages.

Main Results:

  • Suboptimal HRQOL was reported by 20.6% (self-report) and 25.7% (parent-report) of visits with at least one minimal symptom indicator.
  • Among visits with all four minimal symptom indicators, suboptimal HRQOL was reported by 7.9% (self-report) and 10.7% (parent-report).
  • In polyarticular JIA patients on biologics for 12 months, 25.9% (self-report) and 35.7% (parent-report) experienced suboptimal HRQOL.

Conclusions:

  • A significant proportion of JIA patients with minimal clinical symptoms report suboptimal HRQOL.
  • Suboptimal HRQOL is also prevalent in JIA patients undergoing biologic treatment.
  • HRQOL assessment should be independent of clinical status due to unexplained variability.
Abstract

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