The majority of patients with newly diagnosed juvenile idiopathic arthritis achieve a health-related quality of life that is similar to that of healthy peers: results of the German multicenter inception cohort (ICON)

Background Achieving the best possible health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for a patient is an important treatment goal in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We investigated the 36-month trajectories of HRQoL in children with JIA compared with healthy peers and identified the predictors of an unfavorable HRQoL. Methods Patients with a recent JIA diagnosis were enrolled in the German inception cohort study ICON. As a peer group, friends of patients of the same age and sex were asked to cooperate. Children were prospectively followed and regularly questioned about their HRQoL using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 (PedsQL). Disease activity was assessed by the clinical Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (cJADAS-10), and the burden of the child’s chronic illness on their family was assessed by the Family Burden Questionnaire (FaBel). Linear mixed models were used to compare the HRQoL of the patients and their peers. Associations between the health status of a patient at enrollment and an unfavorable HRQoL (PedsQL total