LIFE QUALITY AND DEPRESSION LEVEL ASSESSMENT IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Background: Depression is a common and significant rheumatoid arthritis (RA) comorbidity that develops under the influence of severalfactors, the most important being disease activity, pain intensity and degree of disability. Objectives: The goal of the investigation was to determine existence of depression and assess life quality in patients living with RA. Methods: The study sample comprised of 150 patients of average age 59.2 years, 79.2% of whom were women and 20.8% were men, who have lived with RA for an average of 9.6 years. For determining disease activity level, Disease Activity ScoreDAS28was utilized. Pain intensity and global disease activity were rated using a visual analogue scale ranging from 1 to 100mm. For functional capacity assessments, Health Assessment Questionnaire(HAQ) index was adopted,depressions severity was determined through Back Depression Inventory (BDI), and Serbian version of the health-related quality of life instrument EQ-5Dwas employed to assess patients’ quality of life. Results: Average DAS28 score for the sample was4.46±1.32, suggesting moderate RA activity. Pain intensity was on average scored at 53.2±18.6, whereas global disease activity was measured at 49.63±20.2, and theHAQ indexof 1.0±0.70 was obtained. According to theBDI, 21.4% of the patients exhibited no signs of depression, whereas 12.9% had mild, 54.3% moderate, and11.4% severe form of depression.Quality of life, as measured by EQ-5D, was compromised in all life domains, withpain/discomfort, anxiety/depression, inability to partake in usual activities, compromised mobility and self-caremost frequently reported. In patients suffering from moderate and severe depression, high statistically significant positive correlation between depression score and HAQ index was noted.BDIscore was statistically significantly positively correlatedwith the ratings on the EQ-5D scales pertaining to self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression. Conclusion: Depression symptoms are common in patients with RA and can compromise quality of life in all life domains.When assessing disease severity and general status of patients with RA, depression symptoms should also be considered, given their high prevalence and influence on patients’ everyday life. Acknowledgments: not Disclosure of Interests: None declared