Effects of synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, biological agents, and psychopharmacotherapy on the mental disorders in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Mental disorders (MDs) of the anxiety-depressive spectrum (ADS) and cognitive impairment (CI) are characteristic of the majority of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however, the effects of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), biological agents (BAs), and their combinations with psychopharmacological drugs (PPDs) on these abnormalities have been insufficiently studied. Objective: to investigate trends in the incidence of MDs in RA patients receiving different treatment regimens. Subjects and methods. The investigation included 128 RA patients (13% men and 87% women) who fulfilled the 1987 American College of Rheumatology criteria; their mean age was 47.4+0.9 years; the median duration of RA was 96 [48; 228] months. RA activity was found to be high, moderate, and low in 48, 56, and 24 patients, respectively. DAS28 averaged 5.34+0.17. 80% of the patients received DMARDs. MDs were diagnosed based on ICD-10 coding, by using a semi-structured interview and scales, such as the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. Clinical and psychological procedures were used to diagnose CI. At the study inclusion stage, ADS disorders were detected in 123 (96.1%) patients; CI was found in 88 (68.7%). Forty-one (32.1%) patients were diagnosed with major depression (an obvious or moderate depressive episode), 53 (41.4%) patients had minor depression (a mild depressive episode and dysthymia), and 29 (22.6%) had anxiety disorders (ADs) (adjustment disorders with anxiety symptoms, as well as generalized anxiety disorder). The dynamics of MDs was estimated in 112 (87.5%) of the 128 patients and in 83 (64.8%) at one- and five-year follow-ups, respectively. The following groups were identified according to the performed therapy: 1) synthetic DMARDs (n = 39); 2) synthetic DMARDs + PPDs (n = 43); 3) BAs + DMARDs (n = 32); 4) BAs + DMARDs + PPDs (n = 9). Results and discussion. In Group 1, the frequency of major depression increased insignificantly from 25% to 32.2 and 33.3% (p = 0.36) at one- and five-year follow-ups, respectively; that of minor depression decreased from 51% to 48.4 (p = 0.5) and 50% (p = 0.6) respectively; the number of patients with ADs declined significantly from 24% to 3.2 (p = 0.018) and 4.2% (p = 0.021), respectively. The frequency of CI rose from 63.5% to 64.5 and 81.8%, respectively (p = 0.12). In Group 2, the frequency of major depression decreased from 43 to 19% (p = 0.049) at one-year follow-up; and none of the patients was found to have ADS disorders at five-year follow-up (p