Loneliness and depression in SLE patients: A cross-sectional study in a Brazilian sample

Patients with chronic diseases are at risk for loneliness which may affect their clinical condition. This study aimed to assess the presence of loneliness in patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in comparison to controls and to examine its possible association with depression, disease activity, disease cumulative damage, clinical and epidemiological variables.

One hundred and nine SLE patients and 92 controls answered the following scales: CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies depression scale), UCLA-BR - [Brazilian version of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Loneliness Scale], SLEDAI (SLE disease activity index) and SLICC/ACR DI (Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology Damage Index), along with clinical and epidemiological variables.

SLE patients had more depressive symptoms than controls (p = 0.0001), however their scores on the UCLA BR were comparable (p = 0.14). Depression correlated with loneliness in both patients and controls (r = 0.71 and 0.60 respectively with p < 0.0001). No associations were found between loneliness, disease activity (p = 0.63), SLICC/ACR DI (p = 0.31), and disease duration (p = 0.36). SLE patients with worse perceptions of family relationships exhibited increased loneliness (p = 0.0008).

The levels of loneliness in SLE patients are comparable to the controls. In these two groups, loneliness was correlated with depression. No association was found between loneliness and disease activity, cumulative organ damage, or clinical variables in the patients with SLE.