Depression and anxiety associate with less remission after 1 year in rheumatoid arthritis

Depression and anxiety have been considered to influence disease activity, and with great interest we read the recently published report by Michelsen et al. In this large, prospective, multicentre observational study, depression and anxiety reduced the likelihood of joint remission based on composite scores, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) after 3 and 6 months. Differences were predominantly caused by subjective markers of disease activity rather than by C reactive protein or erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The study cannot prove causality; however, their findings imply that baseline depression/anxiety can impair the fulfilment of remission criteria during follow-up, influencing important treatment decisions. [...]

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