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ABSTRACT
Objectives
To evaluate the association between biological Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs (bDMARDs) use and quality of life (QoL) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
Patients and Methods
We evaluated adult patients prescribed biological DMARDs whose quality of life was evaluated at six and 12 months. The EuroQol 5 dimensions (EQ-5D) was used with the Brazilian tariff.
Results
Patients receiving bDMARDs had significant improvements in quality of life after 6 and 12 months (p < 0.001), regardless of the rheumatic condition and the therapeutic regimen (bDMARDs vs bDMARDs plus synthetic DMARDs) (ANCOVA; p > 0.05). At the end of one year, 62.6% of the participants presented significant clinical improvement in QoL. According to a sensitivity analysis, QoL results in the complete case analysis and in the multiple imputation model yielded similar conclusions. Patients with two or more comorbidities and worse QoL and disability status on baseline presented worse QoL at 12 months when compared to those with better disability status on baseline. Baseline clinical disease measured by activity indexes (BASDAI and CDAI) did not influence QoL after 12 months of bDMARD treatment. Pain and malaise were the EQ-5D domain that most influenced quality of life.
Conclusion
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and psoriatic arthritis displayed significantly better QoL levels following treatment with DMARDs.
Declaration of interest
Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.
Data sharing
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Haliton Alves de Oliveira Junior, upon reasonable request.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.