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Health-related quality of life in Chinese SLE patients: evidence from 1568 SLE patients and 2610 healthy controls

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Abstract

Objective

To investigate the effects of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) on health-related quality of life (HRQOL), the relationship between disease activity and HRQOL, and potential factors affecting HRQOL in Chinese SLE patients.

Methods

This study recruited 1568 patients and 2610 controls to explore the effects of SLE on HRQOL. The association between disease activity and HRQOL, and the influencing factors of HRQOL were determined in 1568 patients. Then, we prospectively followed 1096 patients to explore the association between reduced disease activity and improved HRQOL, and the influencing factors of improved HRQOL. The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) were used to evaluate HRQOL and disease activity.

Results

Chinese SLE patients had lower HRQOL than controls in all domains (P < 0.001), especially in role-physical (RP) and role-emotional (RE). Compared with SLE patients from outside China, the HRQOL of Chinese patients appeared to be higher in mental component summary (MCS) but lower in RP and RE. SLEDAI was negatively correlated with HRQOL, which was validated using the results of a follow-up study, where SLEDAI reduction was positively associated with HRQOL improvements (P < 0.05). Furthermore, personality, life nervous and experiences of adverse life events may influence HRQOL and HRQOL improvements.

Conclusion

SLE significantly affected the HRQOL of Chinese patients, especially in RP and RE. Disease activity was negatively correlated with HRQOL. We also found for the first time some factors affecting HRQOL, which can be regarded as the basis for improving the HRQOL of SLE patients.

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Data availability

Data are available upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank all participants for their enthusiastic participation in the study. We thank all physicians and nurses in the First and the Second Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University and Professor Jian-Hua Xu for her guidance and help.

Funding

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82373657, 81872683), the Scientific Research Promotion Plan of Anhui Medical University (2022xkjT005), the Key Laboratory of Dermatology, Anhui Medical University, Ministry of Education, China (AYPYS2022-6), and the Peak Discipline Construction Project of Anhui Medical University (2022080009).

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Author notes

  1. Yu-Hua Wang, Hong-Yu Sun, Yu-Qi Liu, Xing-Yu Gong, and Ying Xu contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, No. 81, Meishan Road, Shushan District, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Yu-Hua Wang, Hong-Yu Sun, Yu-Qi Liu, Xing-Yu Gong, Ying Xu, Qi-Qun Zong, Guang-Hui Yu, Wan-Qin Hu, Chun-Xia Zhai, Lin-Lin Wang, Zi-Ye Yan, Ting-Yu Zhang & Yan-Feng Zou

  2. The Key Laboratory of Anhui Medical Autoimmune Diseases, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Yu-Hua Wang, Hong-Yu Sun, Yu-Qi Liu, Xing-Yu Gong, Ying Xu, Qi-Qun Zong, Guang-Hui Yu, Wan-Qin Hu, Chun-Xia Zhai, Lin-Lin Wang, Zi-Ye Yan, Ting-Yu Zhang & Yan-Feng Zou

  3. Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230022, Anhui, China

    Jing Cai, Mu Li & Yang-Fan Chen

  4. Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China

    Fang Wang

  5. Key Laboratory of Dermatology (Anhui Medical University), Ministry of Education, Hefei, 230032, Anhui, China

    Yan-Feng Zou

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  1. Yu-Hua Wang
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Contributions

Y-FZ conceived, designed, and supervised the study. Y-HW wrote the manuscript. JC, ML, and Y-FC collected the demographic and clinical data. Y-HW, H-YS, Y-QL, X-YG, and YX conducted data entry and analysis. Y-HW, H-YS, Y-QL, X-YG, YX, Q-QZ, G-HY, W-QH, C-XZ, L-LW, Z-YY, and T-YZ were responsible for the questionnaire survey. All authors contributed to the interpretation of data. FW, JC, ML, and Y-FC revised the manuscript. All authors critically revised and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Yan-Feng Zou.

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This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics Committee of Anhui Medical University.

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Wang, YH., Sun, HY., Liu, YQ. et al. Health-related quality of life in Chinese SLE patients: evidence from 1568 SLE patients and 2610 healthy controls. Qual Life Res 33, 207–218 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-023-03516-9

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