RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Clinical Correlates of Self-reported Physical Health Status in Systemic Sclerosis JF The Journal of Rheumatology JO J Rheumatol FD The Journal of Rheumatology SP jrheum.081057 DO 10.3899/jrheum.081057 A1 Marie Hudson A1 Russell Steele A1 Ying Lu A1 Brett D. Thombs A1 Pantelis Panopalis A1 Murray Baron YR 2009 UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2009/05/13/jrheum.081057.abstract AB Objective Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem disease associated with impaired health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Our objective was to identify the clinical characteristics that correlate with the physical health status of patients with SSc, as assessed by the Medical Outcomes Trust Short Form-36 (SF-36). Methods Cross-sectional, multicenter study of 416 patients from the Canadian Scleroderma Research Group Registry. Patients were assessed with detailed clinical histories, medical examinations, and self-administered SF-36. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the relationship between selected demographic and clinical variables and the SF-36 Physical Component Summary (PCS) score. Results The greatest impairments in the SF-36 were in the domains measuring physical health, and the mean SF-36 PCS score was 37.5 (± 11.2). In multivariate analysis, significant clinical predictors of the SF-36 PCS were shortness of breath, number of gastrointestinal problems, skin score, swollen joint count, and age. The final model explained 47% of the variance in the SF-36 PCS. Conclusion Clinical characteristics identified as significant correlates of the self-reported physical health status in SSc should each be targets of intervention in order to improve the HRQOL of patients with this disease.