ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Rheumatology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1682924
Health-Related Quality of Life and Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study in West Java, Indonesia
Provisionally accepted
Yudisia Ausi1
Rano Kurnia Sinuraya2*
Sumartini Dewi3
Melisa Intan Barliana4
Maarten Jacobus Postma5
Auliya Abdurrohim Suwantika2- 1Doctoral Program of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia
- 2Department of Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia
- 3Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia
- 4Department of Biological Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Universitas Padjadjaran, Sumedang, Indonesia
- 5Unit of Global Health, Department of Health Sciences, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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Background: Joint inflammation is a key manifestation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), often leading to functional limitations and reduced quality of life (QoL) as the disease progresses. This study aims to examine the association between disease activity and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in RA patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 110 RA patients aged 18-65, diagnosed according to the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria and receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) therapy for at least one month. Patient data were obtained from electronic medical records and verified through structured interviews. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed using the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire, while disease activity was measured using the DAS28-ESR. Non-parametric analysis was performed to compare EQ-5D scores based on patient characteristics. Result: The most frequently reported problem was pain/discomfort (76.36%), showing significant differences across disease activity groups. Other commonly affected dimensions included usual activities (46.36%), anxiety/depression (44.55%), mobility (33.64%), and self-care (19.09%). The mean EQ-5D index was 0.76 (95% CI: 0.73–0.80), and the visual analogue scale (VAS) score was 73.05 (95% CI: 69.91–76.19). Disease activity and comorbidity showed a statistically significant association with HRQoL (p= <0.001; OR = 6.33; CI 95% 2.29-17.51 and p=0.005; OR = 3.65; 95% CI 1.50-8.93, respectively). Conclusion: This study suggests that higher disease activity and comorbidity were negatively associated with HRQoL among RA patients. Disease progression disrupts multiple dimensions of quality of life of the subjects. This study highlights the importance HRQoL assessments in RA management to ensure a more comprehensive approach to patient care.
Keywords: ra, EQ-5D, DAS28, QOL, disease activity
Received: 23 Aug 2025; Accepted: 08 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Ausi, Sinuraya, Dewi, Barliana, Postma and Suwantika. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Rano Kurnia Sinuraya, r.k.sinuraya@unpad.ac.id
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.