Depression is significantly under-diagnosed in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with 35% showing symptoms but only 5% having an official diagnosis.
Depression underdiagnosis in RA supports screening consideration; leaves open prospective validation of detection and outcomes.
BACKGROUND: To determine the prevalence of depression among Japanese people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and explore the relationships between depression and an array of variables. METHODS: = 500) of people with RA including the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to measure the presence and severity of depressive symptoms were performed. RESULTS: While only 5% of the population studied had been officially diagnosed with depression, 35% had PHQ-9 scores indicating depression was present. People with RA are more likely to experience depression if they are younger, have greater functional impairment, or whose treatment regimen includes pain medications not biologic agents. CONCLUSIONS: It is a potential risk of under-diagnosis and under-reporting of depression in Japanese people with RA. People with RA are more likely to experience depression if they are younger, have greater functional impairment, or whose treatment regimen includes pain medications without biologic drugs.
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Sruamsiri et al. (2017) studied this question.
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