Our objective was to investigate associations between major depressive episodes (MDE), concordance with therapy (CwT) and disease outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
Seventy-eight outpatients receiving ≥1 disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug and without significant comorbidity had concomitant rheumatic and psychiatric evaluations. CwT was defined according to a questionnaire. MDE was defined using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and the severity of depressive symptoms was assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II). Appropriated statistic was used. IRB approval was obtained.
Patients included (73 ♀) had (mean±SD) age of 44±10 years and (median, range) disease duration of 10 years (5.2-15.8). Current MDE were diagnosed in 24 patients (30.8%); 60 patients (76.9%) were CwT. Patient-non-CwT were more frequently diagnosed with MDE and tend to have higher BDI scores. They had significantly more disease activity according to patient-pain VAS and swollen joint counts. Both groups were similar regarding demographic variables, treatment and comorbid conditions. Forty-one patients (53%) had clinically important depressive symptoms (BDI≥10), among them 20 had mild depression, 14 moderate and 7 severe depression. Patient-non-CwT had more frequently moderate depression (according to BDI score) than their counterparts and similar tendency was found regarding severe depression. Patient-CwT who additionally had lower BDI scores had better disease outcomes than concordant patients with higher BDI scores. Similar results were found in non-CwT patients but statistical significance was limited to disease activity.
Prevalence of current MDE in RA patients was of 31%; those patients had poorer CwT and worse outcomes than mentally healthy patients.