Following the publication of recommendations for inflammatory arthritis self-management strategies in 2021, investigators examined the link between self-management and mental health in this patient population, according to a press release from EULAR. A previous study published by Matcham et al in Rheumatology found that anxiety and depression may be the most common mental health issues associated with inflammatory arthritis. In the new cross-sectional study—presented by Vestergaard et al at the EULAR 2023 Congress and simultaneously published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases—investigators enrolled over 42,000 adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and spondylarthritis to examine the association between low self-management behavior and mental health status. The investigators discovered that the prevalence of anxiety was higher for patients with spondyloarthritis (34.5%) compared to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (22.1%). They also reported that depression was more prevalent in patients with psoriatic arthritis (27.2%) compared to patients with rheumatoid arthritis (18.6%). Further, the findings showed that female patients, newly diagnosed patients, those with a lower level of education, and those younger than age 55 years were more prone to anxiety and depression. The investigators concluded that patients with clinical anxiety and depression were more likely to have worse self-management behavior and that a systematic approach may be needed to identify mental health issues in patients with inflammatory arthritis.
June 23, 2023