Does the Health Assessment Questionnaire have Potential as a Monitoring Tool for Cohorts with Arthritis in Quetta, Pakistan?

Background: Arthritis is a common disease that contributes to the poor health of patients. It is the main cause of disability in an individual. Arthritis can affect physical and psychological health, and HRQoL measures provide a broad picture of this impact. Studies on arthritis have not been documented so far by using Generic tool in Pakistan. Objectives: This study aimed to assess HRQoL of patients diagnosed with arthritis in tertiary care hospitals Quetta. Materials and Methods: A Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted for a period from April 2019 to August 2019 in Sandeman Provisional Hospital, Bolan Medical Complex Hospital and other private Orthopedic Clinics in Quetta, Pakistan. Subject were included in the sample if they had diagnosis of Arthritis by using Health assessment Questionnaire. All analyses were done by using SPSSv20. Results: Most of respondents 165 (42.2%) had rheumatoid arthritis (RA) followed by 105 (26.9%) participants who had Osteoarthritis (OA). Majority of patients 140 (35.8%) had disease duration of 7-10 years followed by 109 (27.9%) participants who had 4-6 years of entire disease duration. Average scores that have been reported in a population-based study are 0.49, and in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis patients are 0.8 and 1.2, respectively which corresponds to Mild to Moderate Disability, Moderates to Severe Disability and Severe to very Severe Disability. Conclusion: It is concluded that RA patients’ HRQoL is altered and found to be significantly related to their age, gender, employment, family income, and length of disease and pain and functional ability may have an important impact on QOL in RA patients through restrictions and unpleasant physical sensations they cause.