Background:The patient-reported outcomes are important components of quantitative methods of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity assessment which are used to choose the appropriate drug therapy. The value of these parameters can be significantly affected not only by the inflammatory process, but also by the psychological characteristics of the patient and, in particular, by hardiness [1].Objectives:To study the relationship between psychological factors and signs of RA activity.Methods:Patients with RA who met the EULAR/ACR 2010 criteria, and observed at the V. A. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology were included. Clinical examination was performed including patient global assessment (PGA), physician global assessment (PhGA), pain measurement on a visual analog scale, tender joint count (TJC), swollen joint count (SJC). The functional status was determined by HAQ, the quality of life – by SF-36 EQ-5D, the nature of pain – by painDETECT, the presence of anxiety and depression – by HADS. Patients also completed Hardiness Survey questionnaire to assess hardiness (HDS) and 3 components of the HDS – commitment (CMT), control (CT) and challenge (CLN). Disease activity was evaluated with DAS28, CDAI, and RAPID3. All patients signed informed consent to participate in the study. Analysis of the data was performed using Spearman’s rank test, Fisher exact test, qui-square and t-tests.Results:85 patients with RA were included. There were 69 women and 16 men. Mean age was 56.7±13.1 years, disease duration – 7.6±2.7 years. 72 patients were positive for rheumatoid factor, 75 – for anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody. CDAI showed high activity in 15, moderate – in 37, low – in 30, and remission in 3 patients, DAS 28 – in 10, 55, 12, and 8, and RAPID3 – in 24, 25, 15, and 21, respectively. 24 patients had subclinically or clinically expressed anxiety and 15 –subclinically or clinically expressed depression (≥8 according to HADS). In 31 patients, the painDETECT questionnaire revealed possible or probable neuropathic pain. Mean HDS was 84.8±21.7, CMT – 38.9±9.2, CT – 29.4±8.6, CLN – 17.3±7.1. These values were comparable with the corresponding population data for this age group. There was a significant inverse correlation between HDS and RA activity measures, including SJC, TJC, DAS28 (p<0.05), pain, PGA, PhGA, CDAI, RAPID3, and HAQ (p<0.01). In addition, HDS and all its components positively correlated with quality of life, assessed by SF-36 and EQ-5D (p<0.01). In patients with subclinically and clinically expressed anxiety and depression, HDS, CMT, and CT were significantly lower than in patients without anxiety and depression (p<0.01), while the values of CLN in these groups did not differ significantly.Conclusion:The results of the present study suggest that low HDS may be one of the significant factors determining RA activity level because it does not allow patients to adapt adequately to a stressful situation produced by the disease.References:[1]Maddi SR. Am Psychol. 2008 Sep;63(6):563-4.Disclosure of Interests:None declared
Gender differences in ghrelin, nociception genes, psychological factors and quality of life in functional dyspepsia