Assessment of kinesiophobia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus and its association with disease activity, functional status, pain severity and depression

Abstract

Aim of the work

To evaluate and compare the frequency of kinesiophobia in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as well as its association with disease parameters.

Patients and methods

The study included 63 RA patients, 63 SLE patients, and 63 matched controls. The Tampa Kinesiophobia Scale (TKS) was assessed. The disease activity score (DAS28) in RA and SLE disease activity index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K) were evaluated. The health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) was used to assess functional status, the visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to assess pain severity, and depression was assessed using a validated Arabic version of the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).

Results

The mean age of RA patients was 49.1 ± 10.2 years, 58 females and 5 males (F:M 11.6:1); SLE patients’ age was 34.5 ± 9.3 years, F:M 11.6:1. Kinesiophobia was significantly more frequent in RA compared to SLE (n = 46, 73 % vs. n = 42, 66.7 %; p = 0.44). The PHQ9 and VAS-pain were significantly higher in SLE patients (19 ± 8.07 and 5.2 ± 3.1) compared to RA (15.6 ± 9.1 and 4 ± 3.02 respectively, p = 0.03 and p = 0.027). TKS significantly correlated with DAS28 in RA (r = 0.422, p = 0.001) but not with SLEDAI-2K in SLE (r = 0.117, p = 0.36). TKS significantly correlated with HAQ, PHQ9, and VAS in RA (r = 0.49, p < 0.001; r = 0.33, p = 0.009 and r = 0.35, p = 0.004 respectively) and in SLE (r = 0.46, p < 0.001; r = 0.31, p = 0.013 and r = 0.35, p = 0.004 respectively) patients.

Conclusions

Both RA and SLE patients have a high frequency of kinesiophobia. It appears to be higher in RA patients and is associated with disease activity. It is critical to identify and treat kinesiophobia to lessen long-term effects.