Six-month prospective study of quality of life in Guillain-Barre syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an acute disease of the peripheral nerves and their roots. Quality of life (QoL) in the first year after acute episode of GBS is still underresearched area. The aim of our study was to investigate QoL in GBS patients during a 6-month follow-up period. METHODS: Multicentric, prospective study included 74 adult patients with GBS (54% males). GBS disability scale (GDS) was used to assess functional disability (severe disability GDS > 2), and Individualized Neuromuscular Quality of Life Questionnaire (INQoL) to asses QoL. Patients were tested on day 14, day 28, month 3, and month 6 from symptom onset. RESULTS: Disability as measured by GDS improved during time (P < .01). INQoL scores also improved during time (P < .01) but were not able to differentiate between day 14 and day 28, and some scores also did not make difference between month 3 and 6 (pain, social relations, emotions and total INQoL score; P > .05). Pooled GDS scores correlated with pooled INQoL scores, especially with independence, activities, and weakness subscores (P < .01). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that GDS at day 14 (ß = .52, P < .01) and fatigue score at day 14 (ß = .41, P < .01) were independent predictors of the worse GDS at month 6 (adjusted R2  = .34, P < .01 for overall model). CONCLUSIONS: During a 6-month follow-up period of GBS patients, we observed a gradual recovery of patients' disability and QoL. Our study confirms the importance of patient-reported outcomes and their ability to capture some important issues that are omitted by classic ability measures such as GDS.