Psychiatric symptoms in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: frequency and association with disease activity using the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Questionnaire.
BACKGROUND
While the neurolupus criteria are well-established, global psychiatric manifestations are of variable frequency in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); their relation with disease activity is unknown.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the frequency of psychiatric symptoms in SLE using the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Questionnaire (APMQ); to correlate APMQ changes with disease activity and socio-economic variables.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study evaluated patients with active or inactive SLE as to the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms utilizing, for the first time, the APMQ. Eight or more affirmative replies out of 45 questions defined the APMQ as abnormal. Patients were classified according to the American College of Rheumatology 1997 criteria, and disease activity was measured by the SLEDAI.


RESULTS
Seventy-two SLE patients entered the study, being 68 females (94.4%). Mean age was 46.1 years (± 12 SD). The frequency of abnormal APMQ was of 89%. Out of the 64 SLE patients with altered APMQ, 60 (93.7%) had common mental disorders, mostly anxiety and somatization. There was no correlation of psychiatric symptoms with active disease (rs = 0.09; P = 0.46), or with history of psychosis and/or seizures attributable to SLE (P = 1.00). Psychiatric symptoms also did not correlate with age at disease onset (rs = -0.16) or disease duration (rs = -0.11). There was an association of abnormal APMQ with low education level (P = 0.02), but not with family income allotted to the patient (P = 0.24).


CONCLUSIONS
The frequency of psychiatric symptoms measured by the APMQ was high in our SLE population. An abnormal APMQ was disconnected from SLE activity, but it did associate with low education level.
Sônia Maria da Rosa
SM
Beltrão
Luciana Beltrão
LB
Gigante
Débora Beltrão
DB
Zimmer
Paulo Roberto
PR
Zimmermann
Deonilson
D
Schmoeller
Fábio
F
Batistella
Henrique Luiz
HL
Staub
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult