Health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) was compared between anti-IFN-γ patients and healthy controls. The demographic characteristics of the participants are displayed in Table 1. The anti-IFN-γ group consisted of 38 patients, with a mean age of 57.37 years, and 60.53% of them were female. The median duration of IFN-γ Auto Ab disease from onset to enrollment was 5.34 years. Within the anti-IFN-γ group, 21 patients (55.26%) were classified as having active disease, while 17 patients (44.74%) were in remission. Immunosuppressive treatments were received by 63% of patients in both stages. A total of 38 healthy controls, matched for sex and age, were also enrolled, with a mean age of 56.66 years (Table 1).
The EQ-5D-5L data was transformed into a utility score, or EQ-5D-5L index, as shown in Table 2 and Fig. 1. The anti-IFN-γ group had a lower utility score (0.86 ± 0.17) compared to the healthy control group (0.95 ± 0.06), indicating decreased health-related quality of life. Additionally, more anti-IFN-γ patients experienced moderate to extreme problems in various domains compared to the healthy controls.
The SF-36 results, displayed in Table 1 and Fig. 2, revealed significant differences in SF-36 domain scores between the anti-IFN-γ group and healthy controls, indicating lower physical and mental well-being in the anti-IFN-γ group. Domains such as physical function, role physical, general health, bodily pain, social functioning, role emotion, and mental health demonstrated significant disparities. However, no significant differences were observed in vitality and report health transition.
Specifically, the anti-IFN-γ group had lower mean scores for the physical components of SF-36 (physical function, role physical, and bodily pain) compared to the healthy control group. The mental components (social functioning, role emotion, and mental health) also had lower mean scores in the anti-IFN-γ group compared to the healthy control group.
A subgroup analysis was conducted comparing the health-related quality of life in anti-IFN-γ patients in active and remission stages. The results in Table 3 demonstrated that patients in the active stage had lower utility scores compared to those in remission. Similar disparities were observed in SF-36 domain scores, with patients in the active stage exhibiting lower scores in domains such as bodily pain, general health, role emotion, and mental health (Table 3).