Impact of Chikungunya Virus Infection on Health Status and Quality of Life: A Retrospective Cohort Study

BACKGROUND:Persistent symptoms, mainly joint and muscular pain and depression, have been reported several months after Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection. Their frequency and their impact on quality of life have not been compared with those of an unexposed population. In the present study, we aimed to describe the frequency of prolonged clinical manifestations of CHIKV infection and to measure the impact on quality of life and health care consumption in comparison with that of an unexposed population, more than one year after infection. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:In a retrospective cohort study, 199 subjects who had serologically confirmed CHIKV infection (CHIK+) were compared with 199 sero-negative subjects (CHIK-) matched for age, gender and area of residence in La Réunion Island. Following an average time of 17 months from the acute phase of infection, participants were interviewed by telephone about current symptoms, medical consumption during the last 12 months and quality of life assessed by the 12-items Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12) scale. At the time of study, 112 (56%) CHIK+ persons reported they were fully recovered. CHIK+ complained more frequently than CHIK- of arthralgia (relative risk = 1.9; 95% confidence interval: 1.6-2.2), myalgia (1.9; 1.5-2.3), fatigue (2.3; 1.8-3), depression (2.5; 1.5-4.1) and hair loss (3.8; 1.9-7.6). There was no significant difference between CHIK+ and CHIK- subjects regarding medical consumption in the past year. The mean (SD) score of the SF-12 Physical Component Summary was 46.4 (10.8) in CHIK+ versus 49.1 (9.3) in CHIK- (p = 0.04). There was no significant difference between the two groups for the Mental Component Summary. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:More than one year following the acute phase of infection, CHIK+ subjects reported more disabilities than those who were CHIK-. These persistent disabilities, however, have no significant influence on medical consumption, and the impact on quality of life is moderate

Enquête de séroprévalence du chikungunya en population générale, La Réunion, hiver austral 2006

International audienceno abstrac

Enquête de séroprévalence du chikungunya en population générale, La Réunion, hiver austral 2006

International audienceno abstrac

Reported symptoms and medical consumption.

<p>CHIK+, persons with a history of CHIKV infection confirmed by serology (n = 199); CHIK–, persons confirmed as seronegative for CHIKV (n = 199); RR, relative risks; CI, confidence interval.</p>*<p>RR, relative risks controlling for stratification criteria.</p>†<p>Exact Mac Nemar test.</p

Characteristics of the study population (199 matched pairs).

<p>Characteristics of the study population (199 matched pairs).</p

Percentage of patients (n = 199) fully recovered, shown by age group.

<p>The long dash followed by the short dash represents patients aged under 30; the dash represents patients aged 30 to 59 and the solid line represents those aged 60 and over. Recovery is fast in young subjects.</p

Quality of life assessment by the SF-12 of subjects with a history of Chikungunya virus infection compared with uninfected subjects.

<p>CHIK+, persons with a history of CHIKV infection confirmed by serology (n = 162); CHIK–, persons confirmed as seronegative for CHIKV (n = 162).</p>*<p>Wilcoxon's rank test for paired samples.</p>†<p>After Bonferroni correction, the statistical significance was then set at p = 0.01 with a bilateral formulation.</p