Depression Among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Database
Author(s)
Madeline Gardner, AAS, Tan Vo, BIB, Qian Ding, BS, MS, PhD;
Ferris State University, BIG RAPIDS, MI, USA
Ferris State University, BIG RAPIDS, MI, USA
Presentation Documents
OBJECTIVES: This research aims to provide a more recent exploration of depression in medicated RA patients and the health outcomes among these patients to examine the effect RA has on quality of life and disability level.
METHODS: Retrospective data analysis from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for the year 2022 was conducted to find connection between patients with RA and concurrent depression. Patients were included if patients self-reported RA, combined with ICD-10 (M06), and using prescription because of RA condition. Patients who self-reported Osteoarthritis or unknown types were excluded. The RA patients with and without depression were compared by univariate analyses. Multiple factors such as age, gender, race, education level and insurance coverage are also considered in a logistic regression analysis in order to predict quality of life among RA patients.
RESULTS: A final of 263 RA patients were identified with 67.3% being female. This represents a weighted estimate of 2.9 million RA patients, about 0.9% of the total population in the U.S. The average age for RA group was 62.7 years (SD 14.7), with diagnosis age was at an average of 44 years (SD 21). While 7.3% of non-RA patients were diagnosed with depression, 18.7% of RA patients were diagnosed with depression (P<0.01). Approximately 6.4% of RA patients reported feeling down, depressed, or hopeless more than half of the days or nearly every day in the past 2 weeks (P<0.01), and 33.09% reported pain limiting normal work in the past 4 weeks (P<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Medicated RA patients have significantly higher rates of depression and pain limiting normal work than non-RA patients, suggesting that there is still an unmet medical need for these patients.
METHODS: Retrospective data analysis from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) for the year 2022 was conducted to find connection between patients with RA and concurrent depression. Patients were included if patients self-reported RA, combined with ICD-10 (M06), and using prescription because of RA condition. Patients who self-reported Osteoarthritis or unknown types were excluded. The RA patients with and without depression were compared by univariate analyses. Multiple factors such as age, gender, race, education level and insurance coverage are also considered in a logistic regression analysis in order to predict quality of life among RA patients.
RESULTS: A final of 263 RA patients were identified with 67.3% being female. This represents a weighted estimate of 2.9 million RA patients, about 0.9% of the total population in the U.S. The average age for RA group was 62.7 years (SD 14.7), with diagnosis age was at an average of 44 years (SD 21). While 7.3% of non-RA patients were diagnosed with depression, 18.7% of RA patients were diagnosed with depression (P<0.01). Approximately 6.4% of RA patients reported feeling down, depressed, or hopeless more than half of the days or nearly every day in the past 2 weeks (P<0.01), and 33.09% reported pain limiting normal work in the past 4 weeks (P<0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: Medicated RA patients have significantly higher rates of depression and pain limiting normal work than non-RA patients, suggesting that there is still an unmet medical need for these patients.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2025-05, ISPOR 2025, Montréal, Quebec, CA
Value in Health, Volume 28, Issue S1
Code
EPH176
Topic
Epidemiology & Public Health
Topic Subcategory
Safety & Pharmacoepidemiology
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas, SDC: Musculoskeletal Disorders (Arthritis, Bone Disorders, Osteoporosis, Other Musculoskeletal)