elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate and determine the relationships (if any) among pain, depression levels, fatigue, sleep quality, and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) aged 65 years and over, and to compare the results with those of RA patients under 65 years of age.Materials and methods: The study included 52 patients with RA aged 65 years and over (Group 1) and 84 patients with RA under 65 years of age (Group 2). Pain, depression levels, fatigue, sleep quality, quality of life, and disease activity of all of the participants were evaluated using a visual analog scale (VAS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Checklist Individual Strength (CIS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Short Form-36 (SF-36), and the Disease Activity Score-28, respectively.Results: When the two groups were compared, higher scores for the VAS, BDI, total CIS, and PSQI were found in Group 1 compared to Group 2 (P = 0.003, P = 0.003, P = 0.007, and P = 0.001, respectively). The SF-36 subscales of the physical component summary and mental component summary were not statistically significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05).Conclusion: This study evaluated the situation in elderly patients with RA and showed that pain, depression level, fatigue, and sleep quality worsen with age

Alexithymia, depression, anxiety levels and quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease that manifests itself with joint swelling and pain. Although alexithymia is more commonly seen in painful rheumatic conditions such as RA, there is limited clinical data about the relations with other psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety and their impact on quality of life. We aimed to assess the level of alexithymia, depression and anxiety and their effects on quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Materials and methods: A hundred forty-eight patients with RA and 100 healthy subjects were included in the study. After physical examination of the patients, Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TAS-20), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) were performed to determine levels of alexithymia depression and anxiety, respectively. The World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQoL-BREF) was used to assess the quality of life. Disease Activity Score Calculator for Rheumatoid Arthritis-28 (DAS-28) was performed to evaluate disease activity. Results: The prevalence of alexithymia was 31.1% in patients with RA. Alexithymia was statistically significantly higher in the RA than the control group (p 0.05) in patient with RA. The anxiety scores were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in patients with RA. RA patients manifested poorer scores in all domains of WHOQoL-BREF than the control subjects (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In this clinical trial it has been demonstrated that regardless of disease activity, alexithymia, symptoms of depression and anxiety are more commonly seen in RA patients that can negatively affect the quality of life. Further studies are needed to confirm this association