Measurement of health-related quality of life in patients with interstitial lung disease and autoimmune diseases

Abstract

Autoimmune diseases comprise a wide and diverse group of diseases, each with its own specific complications, and with common complications such as pulmonary involvement. Lung involvement is extensive and one of its complications is interstitial lung disease, which varies widely within each of the autoimmune diseases. Health-related quality of life is defined as all those aspects that reflect the impact of the disease and the perception of disability and daily functionality of the patient. Even though this concept is subjective, health researchers have sought to define it to serve as a tool in the evaluation of interventions in subjects with different types of pathologies, so much so that it has become a main outcome in program evaluation and clinical research. To date, we are not aware of tools designed with the objective of measuring quality of life specifically in lung involvement due to interstitial lung disease related to autoimmune diseases. The objective of this review will be to further explore the available information on the measurement of quality of life in these patients.