Health-related quality of life significantly improved in obese patients with psoriatic arthritis one year after a structured weight loss intervention.

Abstract

Objective: In this interventional weight loss study, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), anxiety, depression and fatigue were compared at baseline (BL) and at 12 months (M12) in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and controls.

Methods: PsA patients (n = 39) between 25 and 75 years of age, with body mass index (BMI) ≥ 33 kg/m² were included in a weight loss intervention with very low energy diet (VLED) for 12 or 16 weeks depending on BL BMI < 40 or ≥ 40 kg/m². The 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) was used to assess HRQoL. Anxiety and depression were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Assessments were done at BL, M3, M6 and M12. As controls (n = 39), obese individuals, already planned for VLED treatment were recruited and matched for sex, age and weight to the PsA patients.

Results: In PsA patients, physical HRQoL, as demonstrated by the physical component summary (PCS) of SF-36, improved from median (IQR) 34 (25-45) at BL to 43 (34-50) at M12, p = 0.009. No significant effect on mental HRQoL, demonstrated by the mental component summary (MCS) score, was seen. Similarly in controls, PCS significantly improved (median IQR, 44 (36-50) at BL to 52 (44-55) at M12, p < 0.001), whereas no significant improvement was seen in MCS. Anxiety and depression decreased significantly in both PsA patients and controls.

Conclusions: The weight loss intervention was associated with significant improvements in physical HRQoL, as well as anxiety and depression, in PsA patients and controls.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02917434, registered on September 21, 2016, retrospectively registered.