Chronic Q fever: patient and treatment-related factors influencing long-term quality of life

Chronic Q fever is accompanied by high mortality and morbidity, and requires prolonged antibiotic treatment. Little is known on long-term quality of life (LQOL) in chronic Q fever patients treated with antibiotics. To identify patient and treatment-related factors associated with impaired LQOL in chronic Q fever patients treated with antibiotics, and to assess patients' perception on treatment. Cross-sectional study. LQOL was assessed with a validated questionnaire from the Nijmegen Clinical Screening Instrument. Patients' perception on treatment was measured with three newly developed questions. We included 64 patients: LQOL was impaired in 55% (n = 35) after a median follow-up of 5 years. Median treatment duration was 27 months. In multivariable analysis, treatment duration was significantly associated with impaired LQOL (OR 1.07; 95%CI 1.02-1.12, P