Health-related quality of life in adults with Marfan syndrome

Marfan syndrome is a rare genetic connective tissue disorder. Research on health-related quality of life in Swedish patients is lacking. We aimed to examine health-related quality of life in patients with Marfan syndrome with respect to reference values, sex, and age.

Using the registry for adult CHD, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra Hospital, between 1 April 2009 and 31 January 2023, we identified 1916 patients. Of these, we included 33 patients aged ≥18 years who were diagnosed with Marfan syndrome and had completed the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey.

The median age was 32 years (interquartile range 25.5-47.0) and 22 (66.7%) were men. Patients with Marfan syndrome had significantly lower values than reference values for all scales in the Short-Form Health Survey except bodily pain, role-emotional, and the physical component summary score. For both men and women with Marfan syndrome, vitality was the subscale with the greatest percentage difference in comparison with healthy reference values (82% in women and 73% in men). Furthermore, men reported significantly higher vitality levels than women (62.5 points, interquartile range 43.8-75.0 vs. 35 points, interquartile range 10.0-65.0, p = 0.026).

Adults with Marfan syndrome in Sweden showed lower health-related quality of life levels in comparison with reference values for most Short-Form Health Survey scales, and there were differences between patients with Marfan syndrome in terms of sex and age.