title: Psychological status is associated with health related quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic and disabling disease frequently effects physical and psychological well being. The aim of the present study was to determine the impact of psychological status on health related quality of life in patients with RA and also to assess which quality of life (QoL) instrument - disease specific and generic - is more prone to this effect.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 421 patients with RA recruited from joint database of five tertiary centers. Depression and anxiety risks were assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS); and quality of life assessed by Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality of Life (RAQoL), Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) and The Short Form 36 (SF 36) questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with higher risk for depression or anxiety had poorer quality of life compared to the patients without risk for depression or anxiety. Depression and anxiety scores significantly correlated with quality of life questionnaires. There was significant association between anxiety and depression with worsening in both disease specific and generic health related quality of life. However, RAQoL showed more association with depression and anxiety levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher depression and anxiety risks showed increased deterioration in quality of life. Compared to generic QoL scales, RAQoL scale, a disease specific QoL instrument, is much more influenced by depression and anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey. kemalnas@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Kemal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nas
authors.forename: Aysegul Jale
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sarac
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gur
authors.forename: Remzi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cevik
authors.forename: Zuhal
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Altay
authors.forename: Akin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Erdal
authors.forename: Yuksel
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ersoy
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tekeoglu
authors.forename: Mahir
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ugur
authors.forename: Bekir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Durmus
authors.forename: Ozge
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ardicoglu
authors.forename: Kazim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Senel
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Baysal
authors.forename: Ayhan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamanli
authors.forename: Saliha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karatay
authors.forename: Kadir
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Salih
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozgocmen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014421:Turkey