Gender differences in health-related quality of life among healthy aged and old-aged Austrians: cross-sectional analysis

Effect of vertebral fractures on function, quality of life and hospitalisation the AGES-Reykjavik study

BACKGROUND

understanding the determinants of health burden after a fracture in ageing populations is important.

OBJECTIVE

assess the effect of clinical vertebral and other osteoporotic fractures on function and the subsequent risk of hospitalisation.

DESIGN

individuals from the prospective population-based cohort study Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES)-Reykjavik study were examined between 2002 and 2006 and followed up for 5.4 years.

SUBJECTS

a total of 5,764 individuals, 57.7% women, born 1907-35, mean age 77.

METHOD

four groups with a verified fracture status were used; vertebral fractures, other osteoporotic fractures excluding vertebral, non-osteoporotic fractures and not-fractured were compared and analysed for the effect on mobility, strength, QoL, ADL, co-morbidity and hospitalisation.

RESULTS

worst performance on functional tests was in the vertebral fracture group for women (P < 0.0001) and the other osteoporotic fractures group for men (P < 0.05). Both vertebral and other osteoporotic fractures, showed an increased risk of hospitalisation, HR = 1.4 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7) and 1.2 (95% CI: 1.1-1.2) respectively (P < 0.0001). Individuals with vertebral fractures had 50% (P < 0.0001) longer hospitalisation than not-fractured and 33% (P < 0.002) longer than the other osteoporotic fractures group.

CONCLUSION

individuals with a history of clinical vertebral fracture seem to carry the greatest health burden compared with other fracture groups, emphasising the attention which should be given to those individuals.

LupusQoL-US Benchmarks for US Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective.

The LupusQoL-US instrument was recently validated in the US. We studied the benchmarks for a US patient cohort with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and relevant demographic and disease correlates.

Methods.

LupusQoL-US was administered to 185 patients with SLE. Demographic data (age, sex, ethnicity, marital status) and disease features (duration, disease activity and damage) were assessed simultaneously. Descriptive statistics were obtained. LupusQoL-US domain scores were calculated, and compared by sex, ethnicity, and marital status using nonparametric tests. Correlation between LupusQoL-US domains and age, disease duration, disease activity, and disease damage were obtained.

Results.

Mean age of patients was 42.2 ± 14.5 years; 94% of subjects were women. African American patients comprised 60% of the study cohort. The most affected domains were Fatigue and Physical Health. The least affected was Intimate Relationships. Age correlated with Physical Health, Pain, and Body Image (r = 0.15–0.18). Differences were observed based on sex and marital status, but not by ethnicity; there the LupusQoL-US correlated inversely with disease activity (r = −0.001 to −0.36) and damage (r = −0.003 to −0.40).

Conclusion.

All domains of the LupusQoL-US based health related quality of life (HRQOL) were affected adversely. HRQOL varied by age, sex, and marital status in our SLE cohort.