Özet:

Objective: Loneliness is a very common condition that intensifies with chronic diseases and pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the loneliness in patients with late-onset rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to analyze its relationship with disease activity and psychosocial status. Method: Forty-four patients with RA whose disease onset age was over 60 years and 44 control were included in the study. Sociodemographic characteristics, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and UCLA Loneliness Scale short form (ULS-8) scores were recorded for all participants. In addition, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein values, Visual Analog Scale-pain, Disease Activity Score, and Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) scores of patients with RA were recorded. Results: Patients with RA had higher depression scores, ULS-8 scores, and lower perceived social support scores compared to controls, but there was no difference found between the two groups in terms of anxiety. Both loneliness and perceived social support were correlated with BDI, BAI, and HAQ scores in patients with RA. It was determined that the anxiety and depression scores were higher, perceived social support was lower, and loneliness was higher in the active disease group compared to the patients in remission. Conclusion: Loneliness is related with depression, perceived social support, functional status and disease activity in late-onset RA patients. Loneliness, a factor that increases morbidity in elderly individuals, is more severe in patients with late-onset RA.

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