title: Patient-reported quality of life is associated with severity of chronic graft-versus-host disease as measured by NIH criteria: report on baseline data from the Chronic GVHD Consortium.
abstract: Quality of life (QOL) after hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is compromised by chronic GVHD. In a prospectively assembled multicenter cohort of adults with chronic GVHD (n = 298), we examined the relationship between chronic GVHD severity defined by National Institutes of Health (NIH) criteria and QOL as measured by the SF-36 and FACT-BMT instruments at time of enrollment. Chronic GVHD severity was independently associated with QOL, adjusting for age. Compared with population normative data, SF-36 scores were more than a SD (10 points) lower on average for the summary physical component score (PCS) and role-physical subscale, and significantly lower (with magnitude 4-10 points) for several other subscales. Patients with moderate and severe cGVHD had PCS scores comparable with scores reported for systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and multiple sclerosis, and greater impairment compared with common chronic conditions including diabetes, hypertension, and chronic lung disease. Moderate to severe cGVHD as defined by NIH criteria is associated with significant compromise in multiple QOL domains, with PCS scores in the range of other systemic autoimmune diseases. Compromised QOL provides a functional assessment of the effects of chronic GVHD, and may be measured in cGVHD clinical studies using either the SF-36 or the FACT-BMT.
authors.affiliation: Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA. joseph.pidala@moffitt.org
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pidala
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kurland
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chai
authors.forename: Navneet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Majhail
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Weisdorf
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pavletic
authors.forename: Corey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jacobsohn
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Madan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jagasia
authors.forename: Stephanie J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006304:Health Status; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009316:National Institutes of Health (U.S.); D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult