Anxiety and Depression in Iraqi Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Treated with Anti- Tumor Necrosis Factor and Their Relationship with Disease Activity

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease, characterized by progressive and destructive polyarthritis which affects the joints and other body systems. Depression and anxiety are highly prevalent in RA and impairs the quality of life in RA cases. To evaluate anxiety and depression in RA patients treated with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor and their relationship with disease activity. A case-control study was conducted at the rheumatology unit, Baghdad teaching hospital in Medical City during the period from October 2017 to May 2018. The study included 100 RA treated with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor and 100 controls. Data were collected using a pre-constructed data collection sheet. The mean age for patients and control was 52.6±7.8 and 53.7±8.2 years respectively. Depression and anxiety were found in 16% and 48% of patients with RA respectively, while seen in 10% and 43% of controls. In RA patients treated with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor, depression and anxiety were significantly correlated with disease duration, disease activity, and duration of biological treatment.
Depression and anxiety were less frequent in RA patients treated with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor drugs. The coexistence of depression and or anxiety with RA negatively impact the scores of disease activity in RA and they were associated with poor response to Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor drugs.