Quality of life of adult patients with hereditary fructose intolerance

Background: Although patients with hereditary fructose intolerance (HFI) generally have a good prognosis on a fructose-restricted diet, relatively little is known about their quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the quality of life in adult patients with HFI in comparison to patients with dietary-treated, classical phenylketonuria (PKU). Methods: Patients with HFI and patients with classical PKU were recruited from the adult metabolic centers in The Netherlands and Belgium and via social media. Patients were asked to fill out the 36-item Short Form Health survey (SF-36) and a modified PKU Quality Of Life (PKU-QoL) questionnaire. Results: Patients with HFI (n = 19) did not report any restrictions in their health-related quality of life, except for vitality and general mental health, which were scored more unfavorable compared to patients with PKU (n = 19) (p < 0.05, adjusted for level of education and country of origin). The results from the modified PKU-QoL demonstrated a statistically significantly greater impact of the disease in the social domain in HFI. A substantial proportion of both HFI and PKU patients (21%) reported a great to severe emotional impact of their disease. Finally, patients with HFI experienced statistically significantly less food temptations, less guilt if dietary restrictions not followed, and less overall difficulty following dietary restrictions. Conclusions: Although patients with HFI showed to have a generally good quality of life, they scored lower on vitality and general mental health, and reported a greater social impact of the disease. These aspects deserve further study and clinical attention.