The influence of treatment on quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus patients

Objective Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease with uncertain prognosis as to the course. The patients need pharmacotherapy all their life. The main aim of this study was to determinate the impact of therapeutic schedules on patients’ quality of life. Methods The study was performed on 83 patients who were divided into five groups according to methods of treatment used. Quality of life was measured using MOS SF-36. Results Obtained results revealed that therapeutic schedules have the highest influence on patients’ social functioning. The more medicaments the patients use, the lower their quality of life. Conclusions The type of medicaments and therapeutic schemes adopted affect the patients’ quality of life. Nevertheless, quality of life and the patients’ attitude to it are very subjective and are also influenced by the clinical state of the patients as well as many other factors such as socioeconomic and demographic.