Ab0709 Rheumatoid Arthritis and Self Esteem: A Cross Sectional Study About Tunisian Patients

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common chronic inflammatory disease, that causes physical restrictions and functional disability. These disorders can lead to low self-esteem. Objectives: Our study aimed to determine the frequency of low self-esteem in patients with RA and its associated factors. Methods: A cross sectional study including RA patients, which consulted or were hospitalized in the Rheumatology department at Taher Sfar Hospital in Tunisia, was conducted. The diagnosis of RA was based on ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria. Socio-demographic and clinical data including disease activity (DAS 28), Visual Analog Scale for pain (VAS pain), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) were collected. The level of self-esteem was assessed using the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RSES). Patients have reported their agreement, on a five-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree, 4 = strongly agree) on 10 statements concerning self-perceived aspects of self-esteem. Total scores range from 10-40. A general score less than 31 defined a low self-esteem rate. Results: We included in our study 65 patients: 60 Females and 5 males with a mean age of 54.2 ±12 [24-80 years]. The average duration of the disease was 12.6 ± 7.7 [6 months-37 years]. The average VAS pain and HAQ were 19.5 ± 21 [0-90 mm] and 0.7± 0.5 [0-2] respectively. The mean DAS 28 was 3.1 ± 1.2 [1.1-6.3]. RA was erosive (83.1%), seropositive (79.9%), and with specific deformities (49.2%). In 34.9 % of cases, there was low self-esteem according to the RSES Questionnaire with a mean RSES of 30.4 ± 5.8 [15-40]. Low self-esteem was significantly associated with a high activity of the RA (p=0.006), an important functional disability (p=0.02) and greater pain severity VAS pain (p=0.006). No significant associations were found between RSES on the one hand and the age (p=0.5) or the disease duration (p=0.2) on the other hand. Conclusion: Our study showed that low self-esteem is frequent in patients with RA and this trouble was related essentially to active disease and functional disability. Screening for this disorder and the management of the RA activity will be necessary during follow-up of our patients to ameliorate their quality of life and to bolster self-esteem in the ongoing context of self-care. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.