Abstract
BACKGROUND: Sarcoidosis is granulomatous disease of unknown origin affecting organ function and quality of life. The King's Sarcoidosis Questionnaire (KSQ) serves as a tool to assess quality of life in sarcoidosis patients with general health and organ specific domains. A German translation has been validated in a German cohort. In this study we assessed, whether clinical parameters influence KSQ scores. METHODS: Clinical data (e.g. lung function, organ impairment, serological parameters) for the German validation cohort were extracted from clinical charts and investigated by correlation and linear regression analyses. RESULTS: KSQ subdomain scores were generally lower in patients with respective organ manifestation or on current therapy. LUNG subdomain was significantly predicted by lung functional parameters, however for general health status, only FeV1 exerted significant influence. GHS was not influenced by serological parameters, but was significantly negatively correlated with body mass index (BMI). KSQ provides additional information beyond lung function, clinical or serological parameters in sarcoidosis patients. Notably, high BMI is significantly negatively associated with patients' well-being as measured by KSQ-GHS. CONCLUSION: This observation may direct further studies investigating the effect of obesity on sarcoidosis-related quality of life and strategies to intervene with steroid-sparing therapies and measures of life style modifications. Trial registration This study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (reference number DRKS00010072). Registered January 2016.