New research reveals that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) today
have an easier time with daily living than patients diagnosed two
decades ago. According to results of the study published in Arthritis
Care & Research, a journal of the American College of
Rheumatology (ACR), anxiety, depression mood and physical disability
have been cut in half over the last 20 years. Researchers believe a
reduction in disease activity is partly responsible for this positive
change.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that up to one percent of
the world population experience pain and swelling of joints caused by
RA, a systemic autoimmune disease. Over time, RA may impair daily
function and lead to significant disability, with studies showing the
disease is a threat to physical function and psychological well-being.
However, improved treatment options including early therapy
intervention, use of biologics, and more intensive therapy have helped
to reduce disease activity.
“Earlier diagnosis, more intensive interventions along with
recommendations to live a full life and to be physically active may help
improve daily living for those with RA,” explains lead author, Cécile L.
Overman, a Ph.D. Candidate with the Department of Clinical and Health
Psychology, Utrecht University in The Netherlands. “Our study examined
if psychological distress and physical disability in RA patients reduced
over the last two decades.”
For the present study, researchers recruited 1151 with newly diagnosed
RA between 1990 and 2011. Participants were 17 to 86 years of age with
68% being female. Each participant was assessed at the time of diagnosis
and monitored for the following three to five years.
Findings indicate that after the first four years of treatment 20 years
ago, 23% of RA patients reported anxiety, 25% depressed mood, and 53%
had physical disability compared to 12%, 14% and 31%, respectively,
today. The decrease in physical disability remained significant even
after adjusting for reduced disease activity. Results suggest that the
downward trend in physical disability, anxiety, and depression mood may
be due in part to reduced disease activity.
“Our study determined that currently, 1 out of 4 newly diagnosed RA
patients are disabled after the first four years of treatment; while 20
years ago, that figure was higher at 2 out of 4 patients,” concludes Ms.
Overman. “Today, RA patients have a better opportunity of living a
valued life than patients diagnosed with this autoimmune disease two
decades ago.”
