Stressors and rheumatoid arthritis: changes in stressors with advances in therapeutic agents
Rheumatology International, 08/08/2012  Clinical Article

Otake T et al. – Stressors other than pain were the same or somewhat increased, and they were related to anxiety or depression. Understanding stressors in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is thus important in treating RA patients.

• Pain was the strongest stressor in RA patients in 1987, 2002, and 2009.
• However, the percentage of patients citing pain as their major stressor was decreasing with each year.
• CRP was significantly lower in 2009 than in 2002.
• CRP was also significantly lower in patients who used biologics than in patients who did not.
• In 2009, DAS28–CRP was significantly higher in patients whose largest stressor was pain than in patients whose largest stressor was another factor.
• In 2009, the values for both state anxiety and trait anxiety were significantly higher in patients who said that they had stressors than in those who said they did not.
• The strongest stressor in RA patients was pain.
• However, the percentage decreased over the years with lower disease activity from advances in therapeutic agents such as biologics.