Rheumatology patients with anxiety, depression demonstrate low self-management
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Patients with anxiety or depression are less likely to exhibit healthy self-management for their rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or axial spondyloarthritis, according to data presented at EULAR 2023 Congress.
“We know that poor mental health is associated with poor health, so that is why this is such an important area,” Jette Primdahl, PhD, of King Christian X's Rheumatism Hospital, in Denmark, said during a press conference at the congress. “I think the results are kind of shocking, even though we kind of knew it in advance.”
To investigate the connection between impactful self-management strategies and mental health in patients with inflammatory arthritis, Primdahl and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study in Denmark. The researchers distributed a questionnaire to 42,407 patients with RA, PsA or axial SpA.
A total of 12,714 patients responded to the questionnaire. Anxiety was most common in patients with axial SpA, with a prevalence of 34.5%. Anxiety was least common, meanwhile, in patients with RA, with a prevalence of 22.1%. The disease with the highest prevalence of depression was PsA, at 27.2%, while the disease with the lowest rates of depression was RA, at 18.6%. Factors linked to depression or anxiety included female gender, younger age, a diagnosis within 3 years of the study and basic education. In all groups, patients with diagnosed anxiety or depression were more likely to demonstrate low self-management behavior, for all included self-management measures, including adherence to treatment, physical activity and “taking an active role in their health care,” according to the press release.
“The problem is that those with clinical anxiety and depression have lower self-management behaviors, such as lower adherence to treatment,” Primdahl said. “They find it hard to engage in physical activity and take an active role in their own health in general.”
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Primdahl J. Managing anxiety and depression in arthritis. Presented at: EULAR 2023 Congress; May 31 to June 3, 2023, Milan, Italy.
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