Health related quality of life assessment in patients with systemic sclerosis

Objective: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc), a chronic disabling disease associated to physical and psychological impairment, is often left behind in clinical practice and research. This is due to the use of tools that are not complete or mainly designed for the physical condition only. We tested EQ-5D, a valid, simple and brief questionnaire for HRQoL that has never been validated in SSc. Methods: 33 consecutive SSc patients referring to our Rheumatology Department and undergoing treatment have been asked to fulfil EQ-5D together with HAQ. Results: EQ-5D demonstrated good acceptability, feasibility and validity in patients affected by SSc. Conceptually equivalent domains of EQ-5D demonstrated a good correlation with HAQ correspondent domains. Conclusions: We suggest the use of EQ-5D in SSc patients as a HRQoL measure in clinical practice, as well as an outcome parameter in randomized clinical trials and/or in pharmaco-economic evaluations.