To test the hypothesis of an epidemiological relationship between stressful events and the date of emergence of temporal arteritis and/or polymyalgia rheumatica.
Thirteen patients identified with anatomo-clinical criteria and whose mental state permitted prolonged questioning where included in the survey. A list of 65 events, covering the 2-year period preceding the onset of temporal arteritis and/or polymyalgia rheumatica, was used. Each event was assessed using an emotional scale with positive (1 to 10) or negative scores (-1 to -10). Zero corresponded to an event without impact. An event score was drawn-up for each patient. The results were compared with those of a control group of 26 paired (age and gender) controls, 2 controls for each patient were included.
In the group of patients, 12/13 (92.3%) had suffered from negative events 2 years before diagnosis of their disease, with a total of 35 negative events and a score of -271. In the control group, only 10/26 (38.8%) had suffered from negative events with a total of 21 negative events and a score of -132. The comparison (chi 2 test) of the total of recent negative events (2 years before diagnosis) for both groups, i.e., 35/112 versus 21/232, revealed a highly significant difference (chi 2 = 27.3; p < 0.00001). Conversely, there was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the total events having occurred throughout their lifetime.
This result suggests the influence of stressful events in the clinical emergence of temporal arteritis and/or polymyalgia rheumatica.