Older adults with rheumatoid arthritis are at high risk for depression and anxiety, a new study has found. Researchers recommend that clinicians be on the lookout for possible mood disorders.
Thai researchers analyzed data from patients with a mean age of 59 who enrolled in an arthritis registry. The median disease duration was about 10 years and 85% of participants were female. Using the Thai version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, they found that about 12% of the patients had depression and 14% had anxiety.
It was often the patients’ own perceptions of their health status that influenced the results, the investigators said. Functional disability was significantly associated with an increased risk of anxiety. In contrast, disease duration of more than 10 years and overall health scores were tied to a decreased risk for developing anxiety. Greater overall health, meanwhile, was the only score independently linked to decreased depression, according to corresponding author Wanruchada Katchamart, Ph.D., from Mahidol University, Bangkok
“Mental health status, especially mood disturbances, should be addressed in routine practice to improve quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis,” the authors concluded.
The study was published in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases.
