Differences in symptom severity and health status impairment between patients with pulmonary and pulmonary plus extrapulmonary sarcoidosis.

BACKGROUND: Although sarcoidosis most commonly affects the lungs, it is a multisystemic disease that often involves other organs. In this study, we compared fatigue, dyspnea, and the impact upon the activities of daily living and health status scores between patients with isolated pulmonary and pulmonary plus extrapulmonary sarcoidosis.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated 81 biopsy proven sarcoidosis patients. Fatigue was assessed by the standardized Fatigue Scale (FS). Dyspnea was determined by the Baseline Dyspnea Index (BDI) and the Modified Medical Research Council (MRC) Dyspnea Scale. Activities of daily living were assessed with the List of Daily Activities (DAL). Health status was measured by two standardized questionnaires: a generic measure--fifteen-dimensional measure of health-related quality of life (15D), and a respiratory-specific measure--St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Patients were excluded if they had an associated illness that could influence their health status.
RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were demonstrated between the isolated pulmonary group and the pulmonary plus extrapulmonary group for fatigue (FS-total score: 2.4+/-0.64 vs. 2.8+/-0.62, p=0.007), dyspnea (BDI: 8.45+/-2.44 vs. 5.92+/-1.84, p<0.001; there was no statistically significant difference in MRC), activities of daily living (DAL: 4.33+/-2.93 vs. 5.87+/-2.40, p=0.014), and health status (SGRQ-total score: 33.07+/-22.81 vs. 43.69+/-21.55, p=0.04).
CONCLUSION: There are significant and clinically relevant differences in the severity of symptoms, restrictions of activities of daily living and impairment of health status between the patients with isolated pulmonary and pulmonary plus extrapulmonary sarcoidosis. Patients with pulmonary plus extrapulmonary sarcoidosis are more impaired in all these categories.