Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in rheumatoid arthritis

In order to measure therapeutic effects or assess disease course, outcomes measurement parameters are commonly used in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. From the patient's perspective, possibly the most important outcome measurement parameter is quality of life (QoL). QoL may be defined in terms of "health status" and "functioning in daily life". According to the WHO, quality of life is defined as the satisfaction of a patient/person with their situation in terms of health status and their ability to function in daily life. Since assessing QoL makes sense only from the patient's perspective, generic or disease-specific questionnaires are usually used. For rheumatoid arthritis, multiple questionnaires which can be used in a routine clinical setting are available. In addition, QoL is a highly subjective concept and can depend on a variety of individual factors. Thus, measurement of QoL using the profiles and indices of common instruments cannot fully account for an individual's perspective.