CLINICAL RHEUMATOLOGY, cilt.41, sa.5, ss.1439-1446, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
Objectives Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory musculoskeletal disease related to several comorbidities. Anxiety is an important comorbidity in PsA and the data is scarce. We aimed to understand the rates before biologic agents and change in anxiety with the treatment. Methods PsA patients from the Hacettepe University biologic database (HUR-BIO) were assessed for the high anxiety level (score >= 4) using the patient self-reported measure of anxiety on a 0-10 numerical scale, included in the Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease questionnaire (PSAID-12). The rate and scores of anxiety were determined before starting biologic agents, at the first visit within 6 months. Changes in anxiety scores were assessed according to favorable treatment responses, and the correlation was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis. Results From 520 patients registered, 147 [mean (SD) age 43.3 (12.4) years, 70.7% female] had anxiety score both at baseline and first visit within 6 months. Both the frequency of high anxiety level and mean (SD) scores decreased at the first visit [63.9% vs. 41.4%, 4.8 (3.4) vs. 3.2 (3.1) respectively, p < 0.001 for both] after a mean (SD) follow-up of 105.7 (22.2) days. There was also a positive correlation between the change in anxiety scores and all parameters tested for treatment response: pain, PGA, BASDAI, HAQ-DI, DAS-28, and also PsAID-12. Conclusion Anxiety is a more frequent problem at biologic initiation than rates observed in the general PsA population. The rates show a decreasing trend and correlates with treatment response but is still high within 6 months under treatment.