Depressive disorder in rheumatoid arthritis: the more joint’s distressed, the more severely depressed

Introduction: To determine the prevalence of depressive disorder and it's related factors in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conductd from April 2013 to August 2014.A total of 81 patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) were enrolled from Rheumatology Clinic, Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan/ Iran. The Severety of depressive disorder was measured by Beck Depression Inventory, and the diagnosis of depressive disorder was confirmed in clinical interview by psychiatrist based on DSM-IV-TR. Results: Findings showed that more than half of the RA patients with depression 55.5 % had severe depression, the rest had Moderate and mild degree of depression, (16.7%) and (27.8%) respectively. There was no statistically significant relationship between depression and age, sex, marital status, job, economic status, and joint deformity (P > 0.05). However, the relationship between depression and the number of affected joints was statistically significant (P = 0.02), those patients with seven or more affected joints had a higher rate of depression than those with six or less. Conclusion: Due to the relatively high prevalence of depressive disorder among those patients with rheumatoid arthritis early screening and treatment of depressive disorder is greatly recommended. Declaration of interest: None