scholarly journals Level of stress, measured through the Perceived Stress Scale (EEP-10), and its association with disease activity in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

2019 ◽  
pp. 10-13
Author(s):  
Alejandro Martínez Muñoz ◽  
Juan M. Bande ◽  
Silvia B. Papasidero ◽  
Maximiliano Machado Escobar ◽  
María S. Yacuzzi ◽  
...  

Stress is a risk factor in the pathogenesis of autoimmune rheumatic diseases. Objective: to evaluate the association between disease activity in patients with RA. Secondary: to evaluate the association of perceived stress levels with other activity indexes (SDAI, CDAI, DAS28 and IAS) as well as with disability, anxiety and depression and quality of life.

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 929.1-930
Author(s):  
Y. M. Pers ◽  
V. Valsecchi ◽  
T. Mura ◽  
S. Aouinti ◽  
N. Filippi ◽  
...  

Background:Telemedicine has found wider application in chronic diseases for encouraging tight home-monitoring in order to improve patients’ outcome (Smolen et al. 2017).In previous studies, a high feasibility and high patient-satisfaction rate was found as well as the evidence for a superior or equal effectiveness of telemedicine compared to the standard face-to-face approach, however the results were weakened by some methodological biases and wide heterogeneity of interventions, thus preventing to draw definitive conclusions (Piga et al. 2017; Najm, Gossec, et al. 2019).Objectives:In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), telemedicine may allow a tight control of disease activity while reducing hospital visits. We developed a smartphone application connected with a physician’s interface to monitor RA patients. We aimed to assess the performance of this e-Health solution in comparison with routine practice in the management of patients with RA.Methods:A 6-month pragmatic, randomized, controlled, prospective, clinical trial was conducted in RA patients with high to moderate disease activity starting a new Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug (DMARD) therapy. Two groups were established: “connected monitoring” and “conventional monitoring”. The primary outcome was the number of physical visits between baseline and 6 months. Secondary outcomes included adherence, satisfaction, changes in clinical, functional, and health status scores (SF-12).Results:Of the 94 randomized patients, 89 completed study: 44 in the “conventional monitoring” arm and 45 in the “connected monitoring” arm. The total number of physical visits between baseline and 6 month was significantly lower in the “connected monitoring” group (0.42 ± 0.58 versus 1.93 ± 0.55; p<0.05). No differences between groups were observed in the clinical and functional scores. A better quality of life for SF-12 subscores (Role-Physical, Social-Functioning and Role-Emotional) were found in the “connected monitoring” group.Conclusion:According to our results, a connected monitoring reduces the number of physical visits while maintaining a tight control of disease activity and improving quality of life in patients with RA starting a new treatment.References:[1] Najm, Aurelie, Laure Gossec, Catherine Weill, David Benoist, Francis Berenbaum, and Elena Nikiphorou. 2019. “Mobile Health Apps for Self-Management of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Systematic Literature Review.”JMIR MHealth and UHealth7 (11): e14730.https://doi.org/10.2196/14730.[2] Piga, Matteo, Ignazio Cangemi, Alessandro Mathieu, and Alberto Cauli. 2017. “Telemedicine for Patients with Rheumatic Diseases: Systematic Review and Proposal for Research Agenda.”Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism47 (1): 121–28.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.03.014.[3] Smolen, Josef S, Robert Landewe, Johannes Bijlsma, Gerd Burmester, Katerina Chatzidionysiou, Maxime Dougados, Jackie Nam, et al. 2017. “EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis with Synthetic and Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs: 2016 Update.”Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases76 (6): 960–77.https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2016-210715.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1109.2-1109
Author(s):  
E. Filatova ◽  
E. Pogozheva ◽  
V. Amirdzhanova ◽  
A. Karateev ◽  
A. Lila

Background:Central Sensitization (CS) is a proposed physiological phenomenon in which dysregulation in the central nervous system causes neuronal dysregulation and hyperexcitability, resulting in hypersensitivity to both noxious and non-noxious stimuli. The term Central Sensitivity Syndrome (CSS) describes a group of medically indistinct (or nonspecific) disorders, such as fibromyalgia (FM) (1, 2).The prevalence of FM has been estimated at 2-7% in general population, but 10-30% patients with several rheumatic diseases fulfill the FM criteria, which suggests that they have not only nociceptive pain, but signs of CS or nocyplastic pain. (3)Objectives:to identify the signs of central sensitization (CS) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with the central sensitization inventory (CSI).Methods:We examined 43 RA patients (mean age 45.5 [29.0; 53.0] years) with chronic pain. The patients underwent rheumatological examinations; CS was diagnosed using the CSI(4).; inflammation severity (DAS28 index), pain intensity (VAS), affective disorders (HADS), and quality of life (EQ-5D) were assessed.Results:We recruited 36 women and 7 men, mostly with moderate and high disease activity according to the DAS28 index.Using the CSI subclinical CS was found in 9 patients (20.9%), mild in 7 (16.3%), moderate in 8 (18.6%), severe in 16 (37.2%), and extremely severe sensitization in 3 (6.7%). Thus, 62.5% of patients with RA had had clinically significant CS (CS>40 points according to the CSI questionnaire).Patients with the presence of CS were characterized by more severe anxiety (10.0 [7.0; 11.0] vs 5.0 [3.0; 6.0], p=0.001) and lower quality of life (0.52 [-0.02; 0.52] vs 0.52 [0.52; 0.69], p= 0.02).The CSI tests not only pain but also other diseases associated with CS. Comorbid disorders associated with CS were found in patients with RA: 34.9% had cognitive impairment, 39.5% had signs of depression.Conclusion:Central sensitization was detected in 62.5% of patients with RA using the CSI questionnaire. CS is associated with anxiety and depression and negatively affects the patients’ quality of life. Chronic pain in RA can be of a mixed nature: nociceptive and neoplastic, which must be taken into account in the selection of personalized therapy.References:[1]Wolfe F. Fibromyalgianess. Arthritis Rheum. 2009; 61: 715-6.[2]Martins Rocha T, Pimenta S, Bernardo A, et al. Determinants of non-nociceptive pain in Rheumatoid Arthritis. Acta Reumatol Port. 2018 Oct-Dec;43(4):291-303.[3]Halioglu S, Carlioglu A., Akdeniz D., Karaaslan Y., Kosar A. Fibromyalgia in patients user rheumatic patients with several rheumatic diseases: prevalence and relationship with disease activity. Reumatol. Int. 2014 Sep; 34(90:1275-80 doi:10.1007/s00296-014-2972.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 27-34
Author(s):  
V. V. Rybakova ◽  
Yu. A. Olyunin ◽  
E. V. Likhacheva ◽  
E. L. Nasonov

Objective: to study of the relationship between psychological factors and indicators of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity in patients who have been followed up for a long time after initiation of treat-to-target therapy.Patients and methods. The investigation enrolled 38 RA patients (29 women and 9 men) aged 33 to 80 years (mean age, 56.5±12.5 years) with a mean disease duration of 6.0±0.9 years. All the patients underwent clinical examination; the following parameters were recorded: patient global assessment; physician’s global assessment; pain visual analogue scale (VAS), by measuring in millimeters; number of painful joints (NPJ), and number of swollen joints (NSJ). The investigators determined functional status with the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), quality of life with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36), the nature of pain by the painDETECT questionnaire (PDQ), and the presence of anxiety and depression with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The patients also filled out the Resilience (Res) Questionnaire (RQ) and the General Self-Efficacy ((GSE) Scale. Disease activity was evaluated by DAS28, CDAI, and RAPID3 scores. Results and discussion. RA disease activity was high in 4 patients, moderate in 21, and low in 9, and 4 patients had DAS28 remission. The average scores of RQ, its individual components, and GSE scale were comparable with the corresponding population scores for this age group. The patients who had RQ scores below the average group ones were noted to have significantly higher scores of patient global assessment; physician’s global assessment, NPJ, NSJ, CDAI, and RAPID3 than in those who had moderate and higher RQ scores. The similar trend was traced for individual Res components, such as involvement (INV), control (CONT), and risk acceptance (RA). However, the revealed differences in these indicators failed to reach statistical significance. There was no correlation between the measures of inflammatory activity and the result of GSE. The patients with subclinical and clinical anxiety and depression had significantly lower RQ, INV, and CONT scores than those who did not have anxiety or depression, whereas RA and GSE did not differ significantly in these groups. There was a significant positive correlation of Res, INV, and CONT with the quality of life, as assessed by SF-36. The findings suggest that low RQ scores can decrease the efficiency of the therapy performed (due to the patient’s poor compliance), on the one hand, and can corrupt the result of inflammatory activity assessment (due to the impact on a patient’s perception of his/her illness), on the other hand.Conclusion. The findings may suggest that there is a need to assess the psychological status of a patient when determining the level of RA disease activity.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-72
Author(s):  
Roberto Teggi ◽  
Claudia Yvonne Finocchiaro ◽  
Claudio Ruggieri ◽  
Omar Gatti ◽  
Federica Rosolen ◽  
...  

The aim of this paper was to investigate the role of the psychological variable of alexithymia both as a risk factor for the development of Ménière’s disease (MD) and as a component that influences the personal experience of MD and the individual quality of life. We collected data from 179 Italian patients who fulfilled criteria for definite MD. Patients filled out validated self-rating questionnaires to assess alexithymia (TAS-20), quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF), anxiety and depression (HADS), perception of stress (PSS) and coping strategies (COPE). Socio-demographic data and MD clinical features were collected using a specific rating form. Subjects affected by MD showed higher levels of alexithymia compared to general population. Among MD patients, those characterized by high levels of alexithymia revealed a significant increase in anxiety and depression, greater perceived stress, a lower quality of life in psychological health and social relationships domains and the use of less mature coping strategies in comparison with MD patients with low or absent alexithymia. Our preliminary data could help in hypothesizing a role of psychological functioning in MD development and in the adaptation to the disease. The presence of alexithymia in patients suffering from MD may constitute a risk factor for the development of anxiety and depression symptoms; greater perceived stress and for poorer psychological and relational quality of life. Therefore, our study design did not allow causal inferences and further studies are needed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia S. Saif ◽  
Nagwa N. Hegazy ◽  
Enas S. Zahran

Background: Among rheumatoid arthritis patients (RA), general disease activity is well regulated by diseasemodifying anti-rheumatic medications (DMARDS), but sometimes local inflammation still persists among a few joints. Adjuvant modern molecular interventions as Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) with a suggested down regulating effect on inflammatory mediators has a proven effect in management of RA. We aim to evaluate the therapeutic effect of intra-articular PRP versus steroid in RA patients and their impact on inflammatory cytokines IL1B , TNF α, local joint inflammation, disease activity and quality of life (QL). Methods: Open labeled parallel randomized control clinical trial was carried out on 60 RA patients randomly divided into 2 groups, Group 1: included 30 patients received 3 intra-articular injections of PRP at monthly interval, Group 2: included 30 patients received single intra-articular injection of steroid. They were subjected to clinical, laboratory, serum IL1B and TNF α assessment at baseline and at 3, 6 months post injection. Results: Patients of both groups showed improvements in their scores of evaluating tools at 3months post injection and this improvement was persistent in the PRP group up to 6 months post injection while it was continued only for 3 months in the steroid group. Conclusions: PRP is a safe, effective and useful therapy in treating RA patients who had insufficient response and persistent pain and inflammation in just one or two joints through its down regulating effect on inflammatory cytokines IL1B, TNF α with subsequent improvement of local joint inflammation, disease activity and QL.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1011.2-1011
Author(s):  
Y. Olyunin ◽  
V. Rybakova ◽  
E. Likhacheva ◽  
E. Nasonov

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


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