Clinical correlates of self-reported physical health status in systemic sclerosis
Hudson M et al. – Study concludes that the clinical characteristics identified as significant correlates of the self-reported physical health status in systemic sclerosis (SSc) should each be targets of intervention in order to improve the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with this disease.Methods- Aim was to identify the clinical characteristics that correlate with the physical health status of pts with SSc, as assessed by SF-36
- 416 pts, assessed with detailed clinical histories, medical examinations, and self-administered SF-36
- Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between selected demographic and clinical variables and the SF-36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) score
Results- Greatest impairments in the SF-36 were in the domains measuring physical health, and the mean SF-36 PCS score was 37.5
- Multivariate analysis: significant clinical predictors of the SF-36 PCS were shortness of breath, number of gastrointestinal problems, skin score, swollen joint count, and age
- Final model explained 47% of the variance in the SF-36 PCS
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