Assessment of quality of life in patients with Lyme arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

OBJECTIVES: Patients’ quality of life is one of the key concepts of modern medicine, which characterizes the role of physical and mental functioning in the course of the disease. This article presents a stratification of factors influencing the quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Lyme arthritis (LA). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety patients with RA were included in this study among them n = 44 (48.89%) also with LA diagnosis and n = 46 (51.11%) with RA. All studied patients were examined and questioned according to the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index and the 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36) to assess their quality of life. The disease activity score with examination of 28 joints was used to assess the activity of the disease. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the most significant factors influencing patients’ quality of life. RESULTS: Patients who agreed to participate in the study had high and moderate disease activity; however, patients with LA showed significantly higher baseline data on the intensity of the inflammatory process. According to the analysis of the questionnaire responses, a significantly reduced physical activity of both groups was revealed, but patients with LA had significantly worse BP (p = 0.002), GH (p = 0.006), and Mental Component Summary scales (p = 0.001). The greatest relationship between disease activity and quality of life by Physical Component Summary according to SF-36 (r = –0.80) was found in patients with LA and (r = –0.72) – with RA. CONCLUSIONS: The presence of Borrelia burgdorferi in patients with arthritis not only significantly reduced the motor activity of patients, but also complicated the mental adaptation to their own disease. Factors that affect the quality of life – the activity and duration of the disease in patients of both cohorts, and age and total number of affected joints – for patients with RA.