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The following is a summary of “Associations between loneliness, disease activity, and disease impact in inflammatory arthritis: A nationwide cross-sectional study among > 12,000 patients,” published in the September 2024 issue of Rheumatology by Vestergaard et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate the prevalence of loneliness among patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and its associations with disease activity.

They used a Danish cross-sectional survey data of 12,713 patients with IA (rheumatoid arthritis (RA)/psoriatic arthritis (PsA)/axial spondylarthritis (axSpA)) and were linked to the DANBIO Rheumatology Registry and the National Patient Registry. Loneliness was measured by asking if patients were ever alone despite preferring to be with others. Association with disease activity and disease impact (Patient Global Assessment, pain, fatigue, physical function) was estimated using multivariable logistic regression (age, sex, cohabitation status, educational level, mental health status (depression, anxiety), and co-morbidity).

The results showed one-third of loneliness with low occurrence for patients with RA (31.6% (95% CI: 30.5; 32.6)) compared with PsA and axSpA (36.0 (34.0; 38.0)) and (36.3 (34.1; 38.4), respectively), high levels of depression (66.2% (60.0; 72.8)) was highest in patients with axSpA. A positive association was observed between loneliness and disease activity, and its prevalence estimates were between 40–60% with high levels of pain, fatigue, low levels of physical function, and high Patient Global Assessment. 

They concluded loneliness was highly prevalent in patients with IA and was associated with disease activity.

Source: academic.oup.com/rheumatology/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/rheumatology/keae471/7755052