title: Health-related quality of life in adults reporting arthritis: analysis from the National Health Measurement Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States. We assess the generic health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) among a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults with and without self-reported arthritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  The NHMS, a cross-sectional survey of 3,844 adults (35-89 years) administered EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D), Health Utilities Index Mark 2 (HUI2) and 3 (HUI3), SF-36v2™, Quality of Well-being Scale self-administered form (QWB-SA), and the Health and Activities Limitations index (HALex) to each respondent via a telephone interview. Weighted multiple linear regression was used to generate age-gender-arthritis-stratified unadjusted HRQOL means and means adjusted for sociodemographic, socioeconomic covariates and comorbidities by arthritis-age category.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The estimated population prevalence of self-reported arthritis was 31%. People with arthritis were more likely to be woman, older, of lower socioeconomic status, and had more self-reported comorbidities than were those not reporting arthritis. Adults with arthritis had lower HRQOL on six different indexes compared with adults without arthritis, with overall differences ranging from 0.03 (QWB-SA, age-group 65-74) to 0.17 (HUI3, age-group 35-44; all P-value < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Arthritis in adults is associated with poorer HRQOL. We provide age-related reference values for six generic HRQOL measures in people with arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles, 1000 Veteran Avenue, Rm 32-59 Rehabilitation Building, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. dkhanna@mednet.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Dinesh
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maranian
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Palta
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Ron D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: Dasha
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cherepanov
authors.forename: Dennis G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Fryback
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001168:Arthritis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D057566:Self Report; D014481:United States