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Quality of Life of Dengue Patients

Although the disease burden of dengue is increasing, the impact on the quality of life (QoL) has not been investigated. A study to determine the QoL of confirmed dengue patients using the EuroQol visual thermometer scale was carried out at the University Malaya Medical Center. Of the 207 participants, 40% were ambulatory and 60% were hospitalized. Of eight health domains, 6.2 and 5.0 domains were affected in the hospitalized and ambulatory cohorts, respectively (P < 0.001), with cognition and interpersonal activities affected most. All patients experienced a drastic decrease in their QoL from the onset of symptoms. The QoL deteriorated to the lowest point (40% of healthy status) between the third and seventh days of illness. The duration of impaired QoL (9 days for ambulatory or 13 days for hospitalized patients) was longer than the duration of fever (5 and 7 days, respectively). Symptomatic dengue has major effects on patients’ health.

Received December 15, 2007. Accepted for publication March 11, 2008.

Acknowledgments: We thank Daisy S. H. Ong, Indrani Pemmulu, and Yip Soon (Clinical Investigation Centre, University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) for assistance with the patient interviews and data entry; and Chrisann Newransky (Boston College, Boston, MA) and Clare Hurley (Brandeis University, Waltham, MA) for editorial advice.

Financial support: This research was supported in part by research agreements from the Pediatric Dengue Vaccine Initiative to University Malaya and Brandeis University. The American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travellers’ Health (ACCTMTH) assisted with publication expenses.

^* Address correspondence to Lucy C. S. Lum, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mails: lumcs{at}ummc.edu.my and lucylum{at}gmail.com

Authors’ addresses: Lucy C. S. Lum, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, E-mails: lumcs{at}ummc.edu.my and lucylum{at}gmail.com. Jose A. Suaya, Binod K. Sah, and Donald S. Shepard, Schneider Institutes for Health Policy, Heller School, MS 035, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA 02454-9110, E-mails: jsuaya{at}brandeis.edu, bsah{at}brandeis.edu, and shepard{at}brandeis.edu. Lian H. Tan, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, E-mail: hutan07{at}gmail.com.