Depression in psoriatic arthritis: Related to socio-demographics, comorbid loads or disease activity?

Psychological distress commonly occurs in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression in PsA. The secondary objective was to explore its associated factors, including socio-demographics, disease activity data and comorbidities.

Patients with PsA fulfilling the Classification Criteria for Psoriatic Arthritis were consecutively recruited from local rheumatology clinics. Depression was assessed by a self-administered Chinese-Cantonese version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).

Two hundred and eight eligible patients with PsA were recruited, with 82 females and 126 males. Depression was found in 62 (29.8%) of them. The univariate model identified these associated factors: (1) Psoriasis Area and Severity Index score; (2) disease activity measurement, that is tender and swollen joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, Disease Activity in Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) score, Leeds Enthesitis Index and tender dactylitis count; (3) quality of life measurement, that is Health Assessment Questionnaire - Disability Index (HAQ-DI), pain and general health perception; (4) PsA duration; and (5) body mass index. The final regression model identified DAPSA and HAQ-DI were closely associated with depression, P = .007 and P = .02 respectively. Moderate and strong correlations with HADS score were found with DAPSA (Kendall's tau-b coefficient [τb] = 0.25) and HAQ-DI (τb = 0.4) respectively. No associations with depression were found between age, living and employment status, gender, demographics, inflammatory markers, disease duration, skin involvement and comorbidities, in term of Charlson's Comorbidity Index.

Depression was prevalent among PsA patients and it was closely correlated with disease activity and physical function impairment. Achieving low disease activity and maintaining physical function in patients with PsA may mitigate the psychological burden. The present study also highlighted the unmet needs of strategies to identify this common phenomenon.