Validity of the Nottingham Health Profile in a Finnish out-patient population with rheumatoid arthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the quality of life of 122 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients using the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP), which is a generic quality-of-life instrument, and to compare the results with those of 99 healthy local control subjects.


METHODS
Our patient group represented consecutive out-patients from a central hospital. The NHP contains 38 items, each with a weighted score, that assess subjective distress on six dimensions: mobility, pain, energy, sleep, emotional reactions and social isolation.


RESULTS
The median (age-adjusted) NHP scores for mobility, pain and energy showed statistically highly significant differences (P < 0.001) between the RA patients and the control group, indicating a poorer quality of life among the RA patients on all these dimensions. These NHP dimensions were also closely related to patients' experience of their overall health status. The NHP scores for sleep, emotional reaction and social isolation did not differ between the patients and the controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The NHP, an instrument for assessing health-related quality of life, differentiated RA patients from local healthy individuals on the dimensions of mobility, energy and pain.
Uutela
T
T
Department of Internal Medicine, Central Hospital of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.
Hakala
M
M
Kautiainen
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009069:Movement Disorders / Q000150:complications; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications; D011788:Quality of Life; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications; D012934:Social Isolation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires