Evaluate changes in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and disability in children with systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA) or polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) treated with tocilizumab.
Secondary analyses of two double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of intravenous tocilizumab in children with active sJIA or pJIA were conducted. Patient-reported outcomes of disability (Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire [CHAQ]), HRQOL (Child Health Questionnaire-Parent Form-50 [CHQ-P50]; health concepts, physical summary score [CHQ-P50-PhS]; psychosocial summary score [CHQ-P50-PsS]), pain, and well-being (100-mm visual analog scale [VAS]) were measured at weeks 0 and 12 (sJIA), 16 and 40 (pJIA), and 104.
112 sJIA and 188 pJIA patients entered the trials. At week 16, pJIA patients’ mean ± SD CHAQ decreased from 1.39 ± 0.74 at baseline to 0.67 ± 0.65 (P < 0.001). At week 12, sJIA patients' mean CHQ-P50-PhS improved more with tocilizumab than placebo (7.3 ± 10.2 vs 2.4 ± 10.6; P < 0.05). Almost all mean CHQ-P50 health concept scores, CHQ-P50-PsS, and CHQ-P50-PhS improved (P ≤ 0.002) by week 104 for patients with sJIA. pJIA and sJIA patients showed significant (P < 0.001) reductions in disability (mean CHAQ scores: -1.09 ± 0.71; -1.17 ± 0.80), improvements in well-being (-43.76 ± 26.61; -51.53 ± 23.57), and decreases in pain (-41.56 ± 31.06; -51.26 ± 26.79); 92.9%/96.8% of tocilizumab-treated pJIA/sJIA patients reported no more than minimal pain (VAS ≤35 mm) at week 104.
Tocilizumab treatment was associated with significantly reduced disability and pain and improved HRQOL in sJIA and pJIA patients.

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