title: Depression in Rheumatoid Arthritis and its relation to disease activity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the level of depression in Rheumatoid Arthritis and its relationship with severity of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  This cross sectional analytical study was conducted from March 2014 to May 2014. Total 102 cases of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) diagnosed as per ACR (American College of Rheumatology) 1987 criteria were enrolled from Rheumatology Department, Fatima Memorial Hospital. Severity of Rheumatoid Arthritis was assessed by Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and disease activity score (DAS - 28) while severity of depression was measured by Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale II questionnaire. The relationship between depression and disease activity (severity) of Rheumatoid Arthritis was assessed by calculating correlation coefficient between depression, disease activity score (DAS 28) of Rheumatoid Arthritis and health assessment questionnaire (HAQ).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 102 patients, 77(75.5%) were females and 25(24.5%) males. The mean age of patients was 43.5± 11.9 years and the mean duration of disease was 7.8 ± 5.5 years.71.5% of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients were found to have some degree of depression and this was directly related to the severity of disease. Moderate and severe depression were present in 23 (22.5%) and 19(18.6%) patients respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, almost three-fourths of Rheumatoid Arthritis patients were found to have depression. There was a strong association between Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity and the level of depression. So it is imperative for clinicians treating Rheumatoid Arthritis patients to screen them for co morbid depression and manage it accordingly.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Muhammad Yaser Imran, FCPS. Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Yaser
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Imran
authors.affiliation: Dr. Saira Elaine Anwer Khan, MRCP. Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Elaine Anwer
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Saira Khan
authors.affiliation: Prof. Dr. Nighat Mir Ahmad, MD, FACP, FACR. Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nighat Mir
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Dr. Sumaira Farman Raja, MBBS, FRCP, FACP, FACR. Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sumaira
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farman Raja
authors.affiliation: Dr. Muhammad Ahmed Saeed, FCPS medicine, FCPS Rheumatology. Department of Rheumatology, Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Ahmed
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.affiliation: Prof. Dr. Imran Ijaz Haider, MRC Psychiatry. Department of Psychiatry. Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ijaz Haider
keywords: BDI scale; DAS - 28; Depression; Rheumatoid Arthritis