Discordance of patient and physician health status concerns in systemic lupus erythematosus

Objectives: To compare the health status concerns of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and of their physicians. Methods: Cross-sectional questionnaire study of SLE patients and their treating physicians at a tertiary disease-specific outpatient clinic. Patients and physicians completed a questionnaire regarding their concern about specific disease manifestations and impact on quality of life. For each item, degree of concern was rated on a five-point Likert scale and summarized as median (interquartile range). Ratings between patients and physicians were compared using Mann–Whitney U tests. Results: A total of 84 patients and 21 physicians participated. Patients’ predominant concerns centred on function and fatigue, whereas physicians’ concerns focused on SLE-related organ complications. Of the 10 highest ranked patient concerns, only two were common to the 10 highest ranked physician concerns, while physicians rated seven significantly differently; all 10 highest ranked physician concerns were rated significantly lower by patients. The three highest ranked patient concerns (fatigue, pain and feeling worn out) were routinely assessed by 47.6%, 42.9% and 9.5% of physicians, respectively. Conclusion: There was significant discordance between SLE patient and physician health status concerns. Items which were ranked highly by patients were not assessed consistently by physicians, highlighting a significant gap in healthcare communication.