Factors that impact health-related quality of life in 168 myasthenia gravis in West China: Disease severity, social support, and coping style

Abstract

Background: Myasthenia gravis (MG) is associated with reduced health-related quality of life (HRQOL). This study aimed to investigate factors that impact HRQOL in MG in a patient population in West China.

Methods: A series of questionnaires were completed by 168 patients to assess the relationships between HRQOL and social support and coping style. We also evaluated the contributions of clinical characteristics to HRQOL. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), correlation and regression analysis were conducted to identify predictors that negatively impact HRQOL in MG.

Results: There were significant differences in HRQOL scores among patients with different ratio of disease cost to income each month (F = 5.831, P = 0.001) and frequency of MG symptoms (F = 9.128, P < 0.001). Spearman’s correlation analysis showed that reduced HRQOL had low correlation with Myasthenia Gravis Composite score (r = 0.461, P < 0.001), confrontation (r = 0.312, P < 0.001) and acceptance- resignation coping style (r = 0.433, P < 0.001). Stepwise regression analysis further revealed that acceptance-resignation coping style (β = 0.380, P < 0.001) and MGC score (β = 0.322, P < 0.001) were the main predictors of HRQOL.

Conclusions: Our study revealed the factors that impact HRQOL in MG patients and provided the first demonstration that acceptance-resignation is the main independent predictor of poor HRQOL in MG, other than disease severity.