Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Health-related quality of life, fatigue and mood in patients with SLE and high levels of pain compared to controls and patients with low levels of pain

Waldheim, E. ; Elkan, A-C ; Pettersson, S. ; van Vollenhoven, R. ; Bergman, Stefan LU ; Frostegard, J. and Henriksson, E. Welin (2013) In Lupus 22(11). p.1118-1127
Abstract
Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue, anxiety and depression in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and higher levels of pain and to compare them to patients with lower levels of pain and controls. Method Patients were dichotomized into two groups based on SLE-related pain score on the visual analog scale (VAS): low-pain group (76%, n=64, VAS 0-39mm) and high-pain group (24%, n=20, VAS 40-100mm). Sex- and age-matched controls were randomly selected from the general population. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires regarding self-reported pain, HRQoL, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Medical assessments also were recorded. Result Fatigue score in... (More)
Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue, anxiety and depression in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and higher levels of pain and to compare them to patients with lower levels of pain and controls. Method Patients were dichotomized into two groups based on SLE-related pain score on the visual analog scale (VAS): low-pain group (76%, n=64, VAS 0-39mm) and high-pain group (24%, n=20, VAS 40-100mm). Sex- and age-matched controls were randomly selected from the general population. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires regarding self-reported pain, HRQoL, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Medical assessments also were recorded. Result Fatigue score in the high-pain group (median, 36.5; interquartile range (IQR), 32.5-39.7) was significantly higher (p<0.001) compared to the low-pain group (median, 23; IQR, 14.6-34.1), as well as scores for anxiety (median, 9; IQR, 6.5-11.5) and depression (median, 7.5; IQR, 5.5-9) (p<0.001). The high-pain group had significantly lower scores compared to the low-pain group in all dimensions in the SF-36 (p0.001-0.007). No statistical differences were detected between the low-pain group and controls in any measurement except for the dimensions physical function, general health, vitality and social function in SF-36. Conclusion Patients with SLE scoring higher degrees of pain were burdened with more fatigue, anxiety and depression and lower levels of HRQoL compared to patients with lower levels of pain who did not differ significantly from the general population in most dimensions. These results elucidate the importance of identifying patients with higher degrees of pain who are probably in need of more extensive multidimensional interventions to decrease symptom burden. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Systemic lupus erythematosus, pain, health-related quality of life, fatigue, depression, anxiety
in
Lupus
volume
22
issue
11
pages
1118 - 1127
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000324624200005
  • scopus:84884582495
  • pmid:23989737
ISSN
0961-2033
DOI
10.1177/0961203313502109
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3932fe65-945b-4a75-9fbc-6f64e8a3a01d (old id 4172061)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:42:33
date last changed
2022-01-26 01:47:07
@article{3932fe65-945b-4a75-9fbc-6f64e8a3a01d,
  abstract     = {{Objective The objective of this paper is to investigate health-related quality of life (HRQoL), fatigue, anxiety and depression in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and higher levels of pain and to compare them to patients with lower levels of pain and controls. Method Patients were dichotomized into two groups based on SLE-related pain score on the visual analog scale (VAS): low-pain group (76%, n=64, VAS 0-39mm) and high-pain group (24%, n=20, VAS 40-100mm). Sex- and age-matched controls were randomly selected from the general population. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires regarding self-reported pain, HRQoL, fatigue, anxiety and depression. Medical assessments also were recorded. Result Fatigue score in the high-pain group (median, 36.5; interquartile range (IQR), 32.5-39.7) was significantly higher (p&lt;0.001) compared to the low-pain group (median, 23; IQR, 14.6-34.1), as well as scores for anxiety (median, 9; IQR, 6.5-11.5) and depression (median, 7.5; IQR, 5.5-9) (p&lt;0.001). The high-pain group had significantly lower scores compared to the low-pain group in all dimensions in the SF-36 (p0.001-0.007). No statistical differences were detected between the low-pain group and controls in any measurement except for the dimensions physical function, general health, vitality and social function in SF-36. Conclusion Patients with SLE scoring higher degrees of pain were burdened with more fatigue, anxiety and depression and lower levels of HRQoL compared to patients with lower levels of pain who did not differ significantly from the general population in most dimensions. These results elucidate the importance of identifying patients with higher degrees of pain who are probably in need of more extensive multidimensional interventions to decrease symptom burden.}},
  author       = {{Waldheim, E. and Elkan, A-C and Pettersson, S. and van Vollenhoven, R. and Bergman, Stefan and Frostegard, J. and Henriksson, E. Welin}},
  issn         = {{0961-2033}},
  keywords     = {{Systemic lupus erythematosus; pain; health-related quality of life; fatigue; depression; anxiety}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  pages        = {{1118--1127}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Lupus}},
  title        = {{Health-related quality of life, fatigue and mood in patients with SLE and high levels of pain compared to controls and patients with low levels of pain}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961203313502109}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/0961203313502109}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}