Functional status of Indian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

TL;DR

This study assesses the functional disability of Indian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis using a health questionnaire.

Contribution

The study provides the first assessment of functional disability in Indian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Findings

Functional disability varied significantly among different subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Strong correlations were found between disability scores and assessments of pain and overall well-being.

Functional health assessment can improve disease management for juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients.

Abstract

The functional disability status of Indian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis is unidentified. In this cross-sectional study functional capacity of 60 juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients was assessed by the Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire.

A total of 60 juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients aged ranges from 1 to 12 years were recruited from a teaching hospital in eastern India. A childhood health assessment questionnaire was used to assess the functional health of children. Pain, patient’s/parent’s global assessment of general well-being, and physician’s global assessment were assessed.

Childhood health assessment questionnaire disability index for oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis differed significantly from polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (P < 0.001), systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis (P = 0.018) and undifferentiated juvenile idiopathic arthritis (P < 0.001). There was a good to a strong positive correlation between the childhood health assessment questionnaire disability index with pain score, patient’s/parent’s global assessment score, and physician global assessment score for the total juvenile idiopathic arthritis cohort. regarding juvenile idiopathic arthritis subtypes, significant correlations were noted between the childhood health assessment questionnaire disability index with the patient’s/parent’s global assessment and physician’s global assessment (except for enthesitis-related arthritis).

Assessment and documentation of the functional health status of juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients will improve the management of the disease.