Health- Related Quality-of-Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis Assessed by Short-Form 36 and its Relation to Disease Activity

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) impacts both physical and mental well-being, with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) often prioritized by patients over laboratory or clinical parameters. Poor QoL is associated with increased healthcare utilization. Objective: To assess HRQoL in RA patients and its correlation with disease activity. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at SRIHER, Chennai, from March to June 2024. RA patients fulfilling ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria were included. HRQoL was measured using the SF-36 questionnaire, assessing eight domains and two summary scores-Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS). Disease activity was measured using DAS28-ESR. Results: Among 100 patients (86% female, mean age 51.9 11.3 years), 54% had RA >5 years. Mean DAS28 was 3.4 1.3. Females had significantly lower PCS and MCS scores. Longer disease duration correlated with lower HRQoL. DAS28 showed a strong negative correlation with PCS (r = -0.791) and MCS (r = -0.620), both p < 0.001. Conclusion: HRQoL declines with higher disease activity and longer disease duration in rheumatoid arthritis. Females with rheumatoid arthritis have poorer HRQoL scores compared to males. Physical domain of HRQoL is affected more than mental domain in RA.