Depression and health-related quality of life in patients with osteoarthritis: Gender differences

Abstract

Osteoarthritis is a common rheumatic disease, associated with an important deterioration in health-related quality of life (HRQL). However, arthritis impact is not the same in men and women. This study examined depression and severe pain as mediators between gender and HRQL in patients with arthritis. Two questionnaires, EuroQol-5D and the Beck Depression Inventory, were administrated to 135 patients included in the study. The effect of depression and severe pain as mediators in the relationship between gender and HRQL were examined separately, establishing a partial mediation in both cases. This study shows that physicians attending patients with arthritis, especially women, should control for symptoms of depression in order to improve HRQL.