Pediatric Rheumatology Online Journal → June 2003 → Health-Related Quality of Life, Disease Activity and Outcome Assessments→ Abstract #28

THE HEALTH IMPACT OF JUVENILE IDIOPATHIC ARTHRITIS (JIA)

S. Bernatsky,¹ A. Clarke,¹ P. Malleson,² P. Dobkin,¹ D. Feldman,³ M. DeCivita,¹ M. Gibbon,⁴ O. Ortiz-Alvarez,² C. Duffy.⁴

¹Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal General Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada; ²Rheumatology, BC Children3Medecine Sociale et Preventive, Universite de Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada; ⁴Rheumatology, Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, QC, Canada

Objective: To describe the impact of JIA on physical, social, & emotional health, using the parent-completed Child Health Questionnaire(CHQ-PF50),comparing to controls.
Methods: Consecutive clinic attendees with a JIA diagnosis were enrolled (N=107);controls without JIA were selected from orthopedic outpatient clinics (N=126).The CHQ-PF50 was administered, & Physical & Psychosocial Summary measures determined. For the JIA sample, data on disease activity were also collected. Multiple regression was performed to determine predictors of poor health in the JIA sample.
Results: Average age was similar in controls(10.1 years, SD 3.8)& JIA patients(10.0 years, SD 4.1)& sex distribution was similar (JIA 71% female controls 57% female). Median disease duration for JIA patients was 4.3 years. Mean CHQ-PF50 scores in JIA were, overall, lower than that of controls.  Both JIA patients & clinic controls scored lower than general population norms(53.0, SD 8.8) for Physical Summary scales; however, JIA patients scored even lower(42.7)than controls(46.0).Psychosocial Summary scores were similar between JIA patients & controls. Joint severity score was an independent predictor of the Physical Summary Score in JIA patients.
Discussion: Given that the majority of controls had had recent significant injury (the reason for attendance in the orthopedic clinic) ,the even lower CHQ-PF50 scores of JIA patients compared to clinic controls is of interest. We will follow these samples to see if the baseline differences in CHQ-PF50 scores between the JIA sample & clinic controls becomes more significant over time, as the controls recover from the initial injury.
Conclusions: The impact of JIA on physical health is great, as demonstrated by differences in CHQ-PF50 scores for JIA patients versus the general population norms. Our cross-sectional data suggest disease activity as an important contributor to physical health in JIA; further work is underway.