Quality of life in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that brings physical and psychological turmoil to patients. Neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement in SLE also complicates disease management compared with non-NP SLE. The joint pain caused by the dysfunctional inflammatory response, as well as the negative mood induced by the disease have been found to predict the patients’ quality of life. The primary goal of this study is to examine the mediation effect of negative mood on the relationship between pain and quality of life in patients with SLE based on a biopsychosocial approach. Results revealed that negative mood partially mediated the relationship between pain and the physical aspect of quality of life. On the other hand, negative mood completely mediated the relationship between pain and psychological health. The mediation relationship lends support to the biopsychosocial perspective that physical distress, psychological state, and one’s adaptive functioning are closely related. The secondary goal of this study is to explore the effect of NP involvement in patients with SLE on self-report variables, including perceived pain intensity, negative mood, fatigue, sleep quality, perceived cognitive difficulties, and quality of life in comparison with patients with non-NP SLE as well as with healthy controls.