Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in Egyptian Children with Rheumatic Diseases; Its Relation to Disease Activity and Functional Disability

Background Many pediatric rheumatic diseases persist into adulthood, with negative squeal from the disease or its treatment. We aimed to assess health related quality of life in a group of children with rheumatic diseases and its relation to disease activity and functional disability. Materials and Methods Fifty one patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 includes 27 patients diagnosed as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), Group 2 includes 15 patients diagnosed as juvenile onset systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Group 3 includes nine patients; three diagnosed as Juvenile Dermatomyositis, three diagnosed as Familial Mediterranean Fever and three female's patients diagnosed as Juvenile Scleroderma. Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ), Pediatric Quality of Life generic core scale version 4.0, Visual analogue scale for pain and Visual analogue scale (VAS) for global assessment were recorded. The activity index was assessed in each patient according to the nature of the disease. Results In JIA patients, the mean PedsQL score was 73.6+ 15.4, the mean CHAQ score was 0.7+ 0.7, the mean DAS28 was 3.5+ 0.9, with a significant negative correlation between PedsQL and CHAQ (p=0.48), VAS pain (p=0.001), and DAS 28 activity index (p=0.017). In SLE patients, the mean PedsQL was 66.4 + 20.3, mean CHAQ score was 0.7 + 0.67 and mean SLEDAI-2K was 24.2 + 14.6 with no significant correlation between functional disability and SLEDAI-2K (p=0.539). PedsQL showed a significant negative correlation with SLEDAI-2k (p=0.001), and positive correlation between CHAQ (p=0.022). Conclusion Health related quality of life in patients with juvenile rheumatic diseases is correlated with disease activity and functional disability and should be assessed in regular basis.