Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

The evaluation of quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome: a comparison with rheumatoid arthritis by using SF-36 Health Survey

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Clinical Rheumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Musculoskeletal disorders are the most common causes of deterioration in quality of life (QOL). We in this study aimed to assess (1) the impact of fibromyalgia syndrome (FS) on QOL comparing with that of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and control subjects and (2) the impact of these two musculoskeletal disorders on various components of QOL using SF-36 Health Survey. Thirty-five patients with RA, 30 patients with FS, and 30 voluntary control subjects were included in the study. The groups were comparable in terms of demographic characteristics. QOL was evaluated by using Short-Form (SF)-36 Health Survey in all study participants, and Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), which is a specific health-status instrument for FS, was used in FS patients. Physical functioning, physical role, social functioning, bodily pain, general health, vitality, emotional role, and mental health scores were significantly lower in RA and FS patients than in control subjects (p<0.05). The between-groups comparisons revealed that FS patients had significantly lower mental health scores than RA patients (49.87 vs 62.51, respectively), (p<0.001). Total FIQ score correlated significantly with physical functioning, physical role, and bodily pain in FS patients. All parameters of SF-36 Health Survey except for social functioning correlated significantly with some of the variables of FIQ. FS has a negative impact on QOL, like RA. Furthermore, mental health was more severely affected in FS patients when compared with RA patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Talamo J, Frater A, Gallivan S, Young A (1997) Use of the short form 36 (SF36) for health status measurement in rheumatoid arthritis. Br J Rheumatol 36(4):463–469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Woolf AD (2000) The Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010. Ann Rheum Dis 59(2):81–82

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Kvien TK, Kaasa S, Smedstad LM (1998) Performance of the Norwegian SF-36 health survey in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. II. A comparison of the SF-36 with disease-specific measures. J Clin Epidemiol 51(11):1077–1086

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Birrell FN, Hassell AB, Jones PW, Dawes PT (2000) How does the short form 36 health questionnaire (SF-36) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) relate to RA outcome measures and SF-36 population values? A cross-sectional study. Clin Rheumatol 19(3):195–199

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Coons SJ, Rao S, Keininger DL, Hays RD (2000) A comparative review of generic quality-of-life instruments. Pharmacoeconomics 17:13–35

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Sivas F, Ercin O, Tanyolac O, Barca N, Aydog S, Ozoran K (2004) The Nottingham Health Profile in rheumatoid arthritis: correlation with other health status measurements and clinical variables. Rheumatol Int 24:203–206

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Hagen KB, Smedstad LM, Uhlig T, Kvien TK (1999) The responsiveness of health status measures in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: comparison of disease-specific and generic instruments. J Rheumatol 26:1474–1480

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Pagano T, Matsutani LA, Ferreira EA, Marques AP, Pereira CA (2004) Assessment of anxiety and quality of life in fibromyalgia patients. Sao Paulo Med J 122:252–258

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Fitzcharles MA, Costa DD, Poyhia R (2003) A study of standard care in fibromyalgia syndrome: a favorable outcome. J Rheumatol 30:154–159

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gaston-Johansson F, Gustafsson M, Felldin R, Sanne H (1990) A comparative study of feelings, attitudes and behaviors of patients with fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Soc Sci Med 31:941–947

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ofluoglu D, Berker N, Guven Z, Canbulat N, Yilmaz IT, Kayhan O (2005) Quality of life in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol 24:490–492

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Brekke M, Hjortdahl P, Kvien TK (2001) Self-efficacy and health status in rheumatoid arthritis: a two-year longitudinal observational study. Rheumatology (Oxford) 40:387–392

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Martinez JE, Ferraz MB, Sato EI, Atra E (1995) Fibromyalgia versus rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal comparison of the quality of life. J Rheumatol 22:270–274

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Wolfe F, Smythe HA, Yunus MB, Bennett RM, Bombardier C, Goldenberg DL, Tugwell P, Campbell SM, Abeles M, Clark P et al (1990) The American College of Rheumatology 1990 criteria for the classification of fibromyalgia. Report of the multicenter criteria committee. Arthritis Rheum 33:160–172

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Arnett FC, Edworthy SM, Bloch DA, McShane DJ, Fries JF, Cooper NS, Healey LA, Kaplan SR, Liang MH, Luthra HS et al (1988) The American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 31:315–324

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Demirsoy C (1990) The MOS-SF 36 health survey: a validation study with Turkish sample. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. University of Bosphorus, Istanbul

  17. Sarmer S, Ergin S, Yavuzer G (2000) The validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the fibromyalgia impact questionnaire. Rheumatol Int 20:9–12

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Burckhardt CS, Clark SR, Bennett RM (1991) The fibromyalgia impact questionnaire: development and validation. J Rheumatol 18:728–733

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Marques AP, Ferreira EA, Matsutani LA, Pereira CA, Assumpcao A (2005) Quantifying pain threshold and quality of life of fibromyalgia patients. Clin Rheumatol 24:266–271

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Buckhardt CS, Clark SR, Bennett RM (1993) Fibromyalgia and quality of life: a comparative analysis. J Rheumatol 20:475–479

    Google Scholar 

  21. Martinez JE, Barauna Filho IS, Kubokawa K, Pedreira IS, Machado LA, Cevasco G (2001) Evaluation of the quality of life in Brazilian women with fibromyalgia, through the medical outcome survey 36 item short-form study. Disabil Rehabil 23:64–68

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wolfe F, Hawley DJ, Goldenberg DL, Russell IJ, Buskila D, Neumann L (2000) The assessment of functional impairment in fibromyalgia (FM): Rasch analyses of 5 functional scales and the development of the FM Health Assessment Questionnaire. J Rheumatol 27:1989–1999

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Hawley DJ, Wolfe F (1991) Pain, disability, and pain/disability relationships in seven rheumatic disorders: a study of 1522 patients. J Rheumatol 18:1552–1557

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Walker EA, Keegan D, Gardner G, Sullivan M, Katon WJ, Bernstein D (1997) Psychosocial factors in fibromyalgia compared with rheumatoid arthritis: I. Psychiatric diagnoses and functional disability. Psychosom Med 59:565–571

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Strombeck B, Ekdahl C, Manthorpe R, Wikstrom I, Jacobsson L (2000) Health-related quality of life in primary Sjogren’s syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia compared to normal population data using SF-36. Scand J Rheumatol 29:20–28

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Bedi GS, Gupta N, Handa R, Pal H, Pandey RM (2005) Quality of life in Indian patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Qual Life Res 14:1953–1958

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Bergman S (2005) Psychosocial aspects of chronic widespread pain and fibromyalgia. Disabil Rehabil 27:675–683

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Neuman L, Berzak A, Bushkila D (2000) Measuring health status in Israeli patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and widespread pain and healthy individuals: utility of the short form 36 item health survey. (SF-36) Semin Arthritis Rheum 29:400–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Suhr JA (2003) Neuropsychological impairment in fibromyalgia: relation to depression, fatigue, and pain. J Psychosom Res 55:321–329

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Murat Birtane.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Birtane, M., Uzunca, K., Taştekin, N. et al. The evaluation of quality of life in fibromyalgia syndrome: a comparison with rheumatoid arthritis by using SF-36 Health Survey. Clin Rheumatol 26, 679–684 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-006-0359-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-006-0359-2

Keywords

Navigation