Effects of Depression and Anxiety on Quality of Life in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, Knee Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia Syndrome

Purpose: To measure the effects of depression and anxiety on quality of life (QoL) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), knee osteoarthritis (OA) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS). Methods: We studied 154 patients with RA, knee OA, and FMS presented to our physical medicine and rehabilitation department. For evaluation of the patients, Beck depression scale, Beck anxiety scale, and Short Form-36 were used. Results: 22 % of patients (n=34) received diagnosis of RA, 52.6 % (n=81) knee OA and 25.3 % (n=39) FMS. Except for the subscales of physical and emotional role, there were statistically significant differences among diagnostic groups in the rest of the SF-36 subscales. The highest score was obtained in the physical functioning subscale of the fibromyalgia and lowest in the RA group (p<0.000). The lowest score was recorded in the bodily pain subscale of fibromyalgia group (p=0.019). In all diagnostic groups all the scores of SF-36 subscales were significanly low in patients having scored above the threshold value of Beck depression scale (p<0.000). A strong negative correlation was detected between scores of Beck anxiety scale and the scores of SF-36 subscales in patients with RA and knee OA. On the other hand, in patients with FMS anxiety scores correlated negatively with scores of SF-36 subscales related only with physical and somatic functions. Conclusion: QoL is significantly low in patients with RA, knee OA and FMS, whose depression and/or anxiety scores are high. Therefore, thes