Obesity and tobacco smoking are independently associated with poor patient-reported outcomes in SLE: a cross-sectional study

AbstractWe investigated associations of obesity and tobacco smoking with health-related quality of life (HRQoL), pain, fatigue, and functional impairment in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Furthermore, we explored whether there was an effect modification between these two factors. We included adult SLE patients from the Link öping University Hospital (n = 325) in the present cross-sectional analysis. We further included population-based controls and performed cardinality matching to balance age and sex distributions with cases (n = 224). HRQoL was assessed with the EQ-5D index score; pain, fatigue, and overall SLE-related health state with visual analogue scales (VAS; 0 [best] to 100 [worst]); and functional impairment with the HAQ-DI. Unacceptable outcomes were defined as VAS scores corresponding to the 90th percentile derived from the matched controls. SLE patients reported worse scores than controls in all measures, and approximately 30% experienced unacceptable outcomes. When compared with normal-weight, obese SLE patients reported lower HRQoL, and greater functional impairment and risk of unacceptable pain (O R: 3.2; 95% CI 1.6–6.7) and fatigue (OR: 2.1; 95% CI 1.0–4.3). Similarly, the current smokers reported higher levels of functional impairment and a greater risk of unacceptable pain (OR: 3.8; 95% CI 1.8–8.2) and fatigue (OR: 2.8; 95% CI 1.3–5.9) than never smokers. The associations were inde pendent of age, sex, disease duration, disease activit...
Source: Rheumatology International - Category: Rheumatology Source Type: research