The association between duration of remission, fatigue, depression and health-related quality of life in Italian patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of duration of remission on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

METHODS

We conducted a 5-year retrospective study on two Italian cohorts. Remission was defined as a continuative period of no clinical disease activity, according to the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2 K, and a permitted maximum prednisone dose of 5 mg/day. HRQoL was measured using the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF36) during the last visit.

RESULTS

We enrolled 136 female SLE patients. During observation, 15 (11%) patients had been in remission for ≥1 and <2 years, 15 (11%) for ≥2 and <3 years, 19 (14%) for ≥3 and <4 years, 9 (7%) for ≥4 and <5 years, and 53 (39%) had been in prolonged remission for ≥5 years. In the multivariate model, considering depression and fatigue as covariates, patients in prolonged remission showed significantly better scores in the physical functioning ( = 0.039), role physical (0.029), bodily pain ( = 0.0057), general health ( = 0.0033) and social functioning ( = 0.0085) components of the SF36, compared with those in remission <5 years or unremitted. Subsequent mediation analyses found that these effects were partly influenced by depression.

CONCLUSION

Lupus remission could improve the HRQoL of SLE patients, particularly when associated with appropriate management of depression and fatigue.