title: Sociodemographic differences in quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Assessment of health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has become important in health research and can inform clinical care. Many studies have found sociodemographic differences in the HR-QOL of people with RA, and interpreting these differences can be challenging. Biological, health disparity, reporting and assessment instrument differences are a few of the possible explanations that should be considered when interpreting results. Our review of the evidence of sociodemographic differences in HR-QOL in people with RA produced 34 articles describing 49 studies.Typically, patients with RA who were older, female, less educated, non-employed and/or less affluent tended to have significantly lower HR-QOL than other groups. Some evidence also indicated that people with RA who are non-White or who live in rural settings may also tend to have lower HR-QOL scores, but the number of studies supporting these findings was sparse. Researchers and clinicians can optimise their assessment of HR-QOL by finding well validated instruments for the context they are working in. Additional research is needed to identify the exact causes of HR-QOL differences so that quality treatment can be provided to those in need.
authors.affiliation: Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California 92161, USA. egroessl@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Groessl
authors.forename: Theodore G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Ganiats
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sarkin
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000145:classification*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012923:Social Class