Disability and health-related quality of life in Guillain-Barré syndrome during the first two years after onset: a prospective study

Abstract

The impact of Guillain-Barré syndrome on ADL, work, social activities and health-related quality is considerable two years after onset and presumably persists beyond this time point.

What are the experiences of adults returning to work following recovery from Guillain-Barré syndrome? An interpretative phenomenological analysis

“…The findings of this study support current evidence concerning residual physical difficulties, quality of life post-GBS, and people's sense of vulnerability [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]19]. All participants placed extremely high value upon work and regarded the process of returning to work as a very significant step towards moving forwards with their lives, and recovering health, cognitive stimulation, social relationships and a 'normal' self-image.…”

“…Even though this scale provides a good measure of physical impairment, it may be inadequate for evaluating how residual impairments may hamper people's lives in relation to their occupational and social activities. Ceiling effects have been noted in the Barthel Index [4,8]. For example, Nicholas et al [4] noted that some people with GBS recorded relatively high modified Barthel Index scores of 20,yet were still be unable to perform activities such as returning to work.…”

“…Bernsen et al [6]reported that 62% of patients were able to return to their previous employment post-GBS, however the remainder needed alterations at work, to reduce its physical demands or their responsibilities. Less than half of patients returned to work within 2 years in the study by Forsberg et al [8], and some of these could only manage reduced hours. A need for part-time work for an extended period after GBS, or early retirement, has been noted in other studies [6,7,9,10].…”

Factors associated with long-term functional outcomes and psychological sequelae in Guillain–Barre syndrome

“…The distal motor weakness, sensory impairment and psychological problems can result in persistent disability [3,[9][10][11]. Although the majority of GBS survivors (75%) have a good outcome (the ability to walk independently) [12], the impact of GBS on activities of daily living, work, social activities and quality of life (QoL) is considerable at 2 years after onset and persists beyond this time [13]. One study [14] (n = 70) reported that, despite 90% of GBS survivors making a complete functional recovery, 5 years later 27% still had to make substantial changes in their job, hobbies or social activities.…”

Comparison of the outcomes of home based and supervised individually designed exercise programme amongst the patients in chronic phase after guillain barre syndrome: study protocol for a randomized control trial

“…1,11 The health related quality of life suffers a lot in the patients with GBS showing moderate to severe impact in their ability to participate in work also long term psychological sequelae. 6,12,13 It has been reported in a study on ten years follow-up that residual disability may last for longer years or life in which 14% of the patient population had moderate to severe disability whereas 50% had more minor symptoms. 14 Fatigue is also reported on 60-80% of patient population as one of the common consequence and also associated with the poor quality of life and activity limitation.…”