[Quality of life of osteoporotic patients treated in rheumatology rehabilitation in-patient units].
There has been no report on demographic, social and quality of life data of osteoporotic patients attending rheumatology rehabilitation in-patient units in Hungary.


OBJECTIVE
The authors analyzed the data of osteoporotic patients treated in rheumatology rehabilitation departments as in-patients in four hospitals in Hungary.


METHODS
Demographic and social data were obtained by using a questionnaire developed by the authors, and quality of life was assessed with the use of the SF-36 questionnaire. The quality of life data of osteoporotic patients were compared to that obtained from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthrosis and chronic low back pain who were treated in the same department at the same time.


RESULTS
Of the 253 patients who were asked to participate in the study, 211 patients filled out the questionnaires. 25.6% of the patients were male. 58% of the patients were younger than 60 years of age, and 40% of them were heavy physical workers earlier. More than 50% of the patients did not complete secondary school education, and only 6.7% of the patients had a per capita monthly income higher than 100 000 HUF. The quality of life of the osteoporotic patients assessed by SF-36 scored 34.7, which was significantly lower than that of the mean of the Hungarian population scoring 70-90. The SF-36 scores of osteoporotic patients were lower in all domains compared to the scores of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and low back pain, although the difference was significant only in the domain of physical activity. The affective role of patients with osteoporosis was significantly lower than those with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.


CONCLUSIONS
Osteoporotic patients attending in-patient rheumatology in-patient rehabilitation units in Hungary have poor quality of life comparable, even worse than that found in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain.
Országos Reumatológiai és Fizioterápiás Intézet Budapest Frankel Leó út 25. sallai.julianna@freemail.hu
Julianna Rozália
JR
Sallai
Gábor
G
Héjj
István
I
Ratkó
Aniella
A
Hunka
Ilona
I
Márkus
Judit
J
Ortutay
Gábor
G
Ormos
Andor
A
Ujfalussy
László
L
Szekeres
Antal
A
Insperger
Tibor
T
Varjú
Géza
G
Bálint
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D007182:Income; D007297:Inpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires