Depression and its Associated Factors with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Oh, Dong Ho; Kim, Tae Hwan; Ji, Jong Dae; Uhm, Wan Sik; Jun, Jae Bum; Bae, Sang Cheol; Yoo, Dae Hyun; Chun, Byung Chul; Kim, Chae Gi; Song, Yong Ho; Choe, Jung Yoon; Oh, Won Oak; Lee, Young Ho; Song, Gwan Gyu; Kim, Seong Yoon

Abstract

Depression is common in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Estimates of the prevalence of depression in the patients with RA have ranged from 14 to 46%, depending on the criteria used and the patient subgroups studied. Our objectives were to show how frequently depression occur among patients with RA, to compare depression in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) patients, and to identify the disease and sociodemographic variables with which depression are associated. Subjects included in this study were 119 RA patients, and 140 OA patients. The Korean version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to assess depression. The Korean health assessment questionnaire (KHAQ) was used to assess physical function in patients with RA. The associations of sociodemographic variables, disability, severity and other variables with CES-D score were evaluated by multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS
When CES-D cut-off score of 25 was used, 54 (50.9%) of 106 RA patients, and 32(23.5%) of 122 OA patients had scores suggestive of depression, and the difference was still significant after adjusting age, sex, disease duration, pain scale and fatigue scale (p<0.05). RA patients had higher mean scores on CES-D than OA patients after adjusting above variables, too (p<0.05). The bivariate analysis showed that age, sex, education level, fatigue scale, pain scale, KHAQ-disability score, WBC, ESR were significantly associated with CES-D scores in RA patients; and the duration of disease, pain scale and fatigue scale were associated with those in OA patients (p<0.05). By stepwise selection in multiple logistic regression model, the age, pain scale and KHAQ-disability score were selected as significant independent variables in RA patients. In OA patients, the duration of disease and pain scale were selected as significant independent variables.
CONCLUSION
RA patients are significantly more depressed than OA patients, and the associated factors with depression are patient? age, pain scale and KHAQ disability score in RA.