Role of disease severity, illness perceptions, and mood on quality of life in muscle disease.
BACKGROUND
The aim of this study was to describe the effect of muscle disease upon QoL and to explore the influence of disease severity, mood, and illness perception on the QoL of these patients.


METHODS
Validated questionnaires assessing QoL (Individualized Neuromuscular QoL and SF-36), disease severity (Health Assessment Questionnaire), mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale) and illness perception (Illness Perception Questionnaire) were sent to adults with muscle disease.


RESULTS
We received 302 responses (return rate 75%). QoL was reduced, particularly for "physical" domains, but "psychological" domains were also affected. Disease severity was the main determinant for the "physical" domains of QoL, but mood and illness perception played a part. Conversely, mood and illness perception were the main determinants for the "psychological" domains of QoL.


CONCLUSIONS
Because mood and illness perception explain significant variance in QoL in muscle disease, there is scope for devising psychosocial interventions that may improve QoL for those with muscle disease.
Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Kings College Hospital and Kings College, Denmark Hill, London SE5 9RS, United Kingdom. m.r.rose@kcl.ac.uk
Michael R
MR
Rose
Reza
R
Sadjadi
John
J
Weinman
Tayyaba
T
Akhtar
Shree
S
Pandya
John T
JT
Kissel
Carlayne E
CE
Jackson
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D010465:Perception; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires