QOL, as De Vries and Drent (2008) point out is often confounded with state of physical health but actually it reflects one's emotional and psychological welfare. Nonetheless, the two are intimately related in that each affects the other.
Conducting a through review on the subject with key words involving 'Sarcoidosis and health status', Sarcoidosis and quality of life" or Sarcoidosis and fatigue" De Vries and Drent (2008) ended up with 15 studies that they considered relevant to their subject.
Counter-intuitively, they discovered that the greatest challenge on QOL as effected by was the patient's fatigue caused by the disease. Breathlessness, reduced exercise, and impaired working and physical activities were the most frequent reported hindrances. The instrument used was the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment Instrument -- 100, the standard QOL tool that is exclusively used with Sarcoidosis, and women consistently scored lower on the items of Physical health, Psychological health, Social relationships and Environment, as well as on the general facet Overall QOL. Fatigue correlated negatively with Physical Health, Independence, and psychological health. Compared with healthy controls, patients with Sarcoidosis scored lower all around, cognitive aspects notwithstanding, and they also indicated greater tendency towards clinical depression.
QOL of life in connection with Sarcoidosis, however, indicates the same problem as is indicative in the physical aspects of the illness: there are some areas that are debatable and much research still has to be done. Inclusive in this is the fact that as yet, sole research studies on the subject have included cross sectional studies. Still to be investigated is progression of disease and correlation effect on QOL: in other words does the individual's QOL, for instance, worsen as symptoms progressively increase. To assess that, follow up studies need to be conducted and this involves longitudinal experimentation.
Bona et al. (1998) suggest that mental health professionals become acquainted with the disease in order to refrain from misdiagnosing psychiatric symptoms as outcome of another disease. Conducting follow-up or longitudinal studies may reveal hitherto concealed or misinterpreted aspects of the disease helping both scientists and psychologists better understand...
Assessing the progression of the disease on QOL can also help therapists devise appropriate interventions -- and, although psychotherapy with or without application of antidepressant medication is occasionally employed (Wiegand & Brutsche, 2006), physicians sometimes, believing symptoms to be the flue or negative mood, fail to recommend it and patients initially fail to see its significance. For this reason, Wiegand and Brutsche (2006) recommend open discussion on the effects of the disease on daily life especially as effecting both patient and family's (or caregiver's) moods.
In summary, despite the relatively rare presentation of this disease, it is important that clinicians become better acquainted with it in order to properly treat it and better understand its symptoms as well as its related psychological facts. Conducting further and expanded research on QOL in connection with Sarcoidosis may also help therapists and social workers deal with another overlooked aspect of patients with Sarcoidosis -- their emotional and psychological level of health.
Annotated References
American Thoracic Society (1999) Statement on Sarcoidosis, 736-749
The report provides a thorough overview of Sarcoidosis discussing new developments and demonstrating how much in the field remains enigmatic.
Bona, J. et al. (1998) Neurosarcoidosis as a Cause of Refractory Psychosis: A Complicated Case ReportAm J. Psychiatry 155:8, 1100-1107
The report describes Sarcoidosis and gives a case history as example.
De Vries, J. & Drent, M (2008) Quality of Life and Health Status in Sarcoidosis: A Review of the Literature Clin Chest Med 29-525 -- 532
The report discusses Quality of life and Sarcoidosis showing how the disease can impact the other. A method is presented to test QOL and results and gaps in the study as well as contributions to clinicians discussed.
Wiegend, J. & Brutsche, M. (2006). Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder with variable prognosis -- information for treating physicians, Swiss Med Wkly; 1-3-6: 2-0-1 -- 2-0 9
The report succinctly describes Sarcoidosis concluding that the disease often remains misdiagnozed and under recognized. It recommends that clinicians consider side-effects of medication and identify…
