Citation

Tektonidou MG, Dasgupta A, Ward MM. Arthritis Care Res. (2010) 2011; 63(9): 1322-1333.

Affiliation

First Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, National University of Athens, Athens, Greece. mtektonidou@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/acr.20516

PMID

21671421

PMCID

PMC3169713

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence, correlates and subgroups at highest risk for suicidal ideation among adults with arthritis. METHODS: We used data on U.S. adults with arthritis, aged ≥40, participating in the 2007-2008 NHANES survey. Suicidal ideation was assessed by item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9). Socio-demographic factors, health behaviors and comorbid conditions were examined as potential correlates. Depression was measured by the PHQ-8 score (range 1-24). We used random forests to identify subgroups at highest risk for suicidal ideation. To determine if any correlates were unique to arthritis, we compared results to those for persons with diabetes mellitus and cancer. RESULTS: The prevalence (± standard error) of suicidal ideation was 5.6% ± 0.8% among persons with arthritis and 2.4% ± 0.4% among those without. The most important correlates for suicidal ideation in adults with arthritis were depression, anxiety, duration of arthritis, age, income/poverty ratio, number of close friends, pain, alcohol, excessive daytime sleepiness and comorbidities. Eleven of 16 most important contributors for suicidal ideation among adults with arthritis were also important for people with diabetes and cancer. Among persons with arthritis, subgroups at highest risk for suicidal ideation were those with PHQ-8 between 18 and 24 and less than 4.5 years of arthritis (96.5%), and those with PHQ-8 between 7 and 17, ≥1.24 days of binges/month and either income ≥$45,000/year (85.4%) or income <$45,000/year and >3 comorbidities (70.8%). CONCLUSION: Depression, short duration of arthritis, binge drinking, income, and >3 comorbidities identified subgroups of adults with arthritis at greatest risk for suicidal ideation.

Language: en