Date of Award
1-1-2022
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Public Health (MPH)
Department
School of Public Health
First Advisor
Shi-Yi Wang
Abstract
Objective/Purpose: The severity of rheumatoid arthritis and its association with depression and anxiety among a prevalent cohort of American adults has been neither well-researched nor backed by real-world data. This investigation seeks to test the hypothesis that there is an association between disease severity and the aforementioned psychological conditions, both of which are commonly observed in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
Methods: Real-world data from OM1 Inc.’s rheumatoid arthritis registry (2013-2022) was used for this analysis. Disease severity (low, medium, and high), categorized using disease activity scores, was the main exposure, while depression and anxiety were the study’s two primary outcomes. The adjusted odds ratios were derived using multivariate logistic regression with backwards elimination.
Results: A total of 133,574 patients, categorized into low (N=51,882), medium (N=56,853), and high (N=24,839) disease activity groups, were studied. Disease severity is associated with depression and anxiety at the 0.05 level of statistical significance. In the adjusted model, those with medium disease severity had 1.17 times the odds of having depression compared to those with low disease severity (p
Discussion: Since RA disease severity is associated with depression and anxiety in this real-world analysis, it may be beneficial to integrate mental health screening in treatment paradigms in order to improve health outcomes, especially for patients with more severe cases of RA.
Recommended Citation
Ballesteros, Nicole-Anne, "Association Between Rheumatoid Arthritis Severity And Mental Health In A Prevalent Cohort Of American Adults, 2013-2022" (2022). Public Health Theses. 2129.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysphtdl/2129
