Papers of the Week

As chronic conditions, rare and complex connective tissue and musculoskeletal diseases (rCTDs) significantly affect the quality of life generating an impact on the physical, psychological, social, and economic dimensions of the patients' lives, having implications on the family, changing the lifestyle and interpersonal relationships. Traditionally, generic and disease-specific measures for Quality of Life (QoL) provide valuable information to clinicians since QoL affects healthcare services utilization, predicts morbidities and mortalities, workability, etc. Moreover, the assessment of unmet clinical needs, satisfaction, the experience with the treatment and the care, the psychological dimensions, and the effects of the diseases, such as fatigue, could represent valuable dimensions to be considered in the QoL impact assessment. It is also necessary to measure the impact of rCTDs by considering the perspectives of family members/informal caregivers, for instance considering values, beliefs, experiences, life circumstances, psychological aspects, family relationships, economic issues, changes in social activities, etc.