title: Factors associated with health-related quality of life in patients with severe Guillain-Barré syndrome.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in control subjects and patients with severe Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) 6 months after rehabilitation. To determine the relationship of several sociodemographic and medical factors with the HRQOL of the GBS survivors.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-one patients with severe GBS and 31 control subjects were included in the study. Demographic and medical variables were recorded. The functional outcome was measured using the Functional Independence Measure (FIM), both at admission and discharge and also at the 6-month follow-up examination. The HRQOLs were assessed by the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) at the 6-month follow-up examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were significant improvements in functional status as measured by the FIM at discharge and also at 6 months. The scores of all of the NHP dimensions of the GBS patients were significantly higher than in the control subjects. Functional disability scores were highly related to the energy level, physical mobility and emotional reactions of the NHP domains. Education, gender, employment, mechanical ventilation and tendency to depression were the factors most related to the NHP domains. Age and marital status showed no significant correlation with the NHP scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The HRQOL of the GBS patients remains lower than that of the control subjects. In addition to functional scores, several sociodemographic and medical variables, such as education, psychological factors, gender, mechanical ventilation and employment may play a crucial role in determining the quality of life in persons with GBS.
authors.affiliation: Ankara Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital of Ministry of Health, Ankara, Turkey. sibiozbudak@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Sibel Ozbudak
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.forename: Füsun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Köseoğlu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D020275:Guillain-Barre Syndrome / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012737:Sex Factors; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile