Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Correlate With Pain and Stress Using PROMIS Measures

Objective: Describe anxiety and depressive symptoms in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) using Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) measures and evaluate potential correlations with disease manifestations.

Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of children with JIA and a parent proxy who completed PROMIS measures on depression, anxiety, stress, and pain. The Childhood Health Assessment Questionnaire (CHAQ) measured mobility, and the clinical Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score in 10 joints (cJADAS10) measured disease activity.

Results: Eighty-four patients completed the study. Demographic median values included age (14 yrs), disease duration (4.73 yrs), CHAQ score (0), total active joint count (0), and cJADAS10 (2). Using cJADAS10, 57 patients (70%) had inactive or low disease activity. Mean PROMIS scores for depressive and anxiety symptoms were lower in children with JIA compared to the reference population ( < 0.0001). Nineteen patients (23%) had moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Age and CHAQ score (mobility) correlated with depressive symptoms ( = 0.36, =0.0008 and = 0.32, 0.0029, respectively) but not anxiety. Depressive and anxiety symptoms correlated with pain ( = 0.64 and = 0.47, respectively, 0.0001) and stress ( = 0.79 and = 0.75, respectively, 0.0001) but not with sex, JIA subtype, disease duration, or disease activity.

Conclusion: Approximately one-quarter of children with JIA reported moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression. These symptoms are associated with pain and stress, but they are not associated with other disease manifestations. Understanding how mental health symptoms and JIA affect each other is necessary in order to improve patient outcomes and provide well-rounded care.