Association between socio-economic status and demographical factors with health related quality of life in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis attending the Rheumatology clinic of the Colombo South Teaching Hospital

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by persistent symmetric inflammation of multiple peripheral joints resulting in a considerable impact on patient’s quality of life. The present study was planned to identify the factors which can affect the health related quality of life among the patients with rheumatoid arthritis who are attending the rheumatology clinic of the Colombo South Teaching Hospital. Data were analyzed through SPSS 16.0. Chi square was used to assess the significant association of factors with quality of life and the significant level was kept at p <0.05 A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 307 rheumatoid arthritis patients with the mean age of 58 (SD±10.51) and with a male to female ratio of 1:10. Data related to demographic and socio-economic factors were collected through an interviewer administered questionnaire. SF-36 scale (Short Form Health Survey) was used to assess the health related quality of life According to the analytical results, monthly income (P=0.007), places where medication was taken (P=0.037), number of children (P=0.005), type of water source used (P=0.050), distance to the water source from the house (P=0.008) and availability of a relative to help with the day to day work (P=0.042) showed statistically significant association with health related quality of life among the study participants. Demographic factors like age, gender, civil status, ethnicity, religion, and socio- economic factors like educational level, occupation, monthly cost for medications, current residence, type of the family, availability of a stair cases in the house, type of toilet used, distance to the toilet, involvement in the cooking and cleaning activities, mode of washing clothes, availability of a supportive device to walk, distance to the hospital, , availability of a person to come to the hospital and availability of an extra funding system other than salary didn’t show significant association with health related quality of life of the study participants ( P>0.05). The results showed that demographic and socioeconomic factors have a significant impact on the health related quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.