Patients with NPSLE experience poorer HRQoL and more fatigue than SLE patients with no neuropsychiatric involvement, irrespective of neuropsychiatric activity.

OBJECTIVES

Substantial proportions of patients with SLE report poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Our objective was to investigate the impact of neuropsychiatric involvement (NP) in SLE on patient-reported outcomes.

METHODS

We analysed data from four phase III trials (BLISS-52, BLISS-76, BLISS-SC, EMBRACE; N = 2968). The NPSLE group comprised individuals with NP-BILAG A/B/C/D or score in any descriptor of the NP-SLEDAI-2K at baseline (N = 350), while the non-NPSLE group consisted of patients with NP-BILAG E (N = 2618). HRQoL was assessed with the SF-36, EQ-5D-3L, and FACIT-F. Full health state (FHS) was defined as 'no problems' in all EQ-5D dimensions.

RESULTS

NPSLE patients reported lower scores in the SF-36 physical and mental component summary compared with the non-NPSLE population [mean (s.d.): 35.7 (9.1) vs 39.6 (9.6); P < 0.001 and 37.3 (12.1) vs 41.4 (11.0); P < 0.001, respectively]. NPSLE patients also exhibited impaired HRQoL in all EQ-5D dimensions compared with non-NPSLE patients (P < 0.05 for all). A substantially lower proportion of NPSLE patients experienced FHS in comparison with the non-NPSLE group (3.3% vs 14.5%; P < 0.001). NPSLE was associated with severe fatigue [23.8 (12.2) vs 31.5 (11.6); P < 0.001]. Notably, our findings revealed no discernible distinctions between active and inactive NPSLE patients with regard to SF-36, EQ-5D, FHS or FACIT-F scores.

CONCLUSION

NP in patients with SLE has a detrimental effect on HRQoL experience and is associated with severe fatigue, regardless of the degree of neuropsychiatric disease activity. Early intervention is warranted in NPSLE patients to enhance long-term HRQoL experience.