In a Turkish study of nearly 200 patients aged 18 to 85 years diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, about half were determined to have symptoms of depression, and about a quarter displayed symptoms of anxiety, as scored by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). These results were published by Enginar et al in Reumatologia. Patients with higher disease activity scores and worse scores on the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) were more likely to have depression and anxiety; female patients, those with low levels of education, and housewives were more likely to have depression; and those who performed manual labor were more likely to have anxiety. There were no differences in the rates of anxiety and depression between patients receiving biological and conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. The study authors wrote, “[The results point] to the relationship between inflammation and depression and anxiety…. Depression and anxiety are observed extremely frequently in rheumatoid arthritis patients. It should be taken into consideration that this may affect the remission response of patients, the prognosis, and even mortality.”
May 25, 2023