LAUSR

Background Depression and other mental disorders are among the most prevalent comorbidities in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA). Objectives To assess the association between sociodemographic characteristics, disease progression, and mental health comorbidity with risk of mental disorders (RMD). Methods In 2016 a sample of 680 axSpA patients was interviewed as part of the Spanish Atlas. To quantify the RMD, GHQ-12 scale was employed. Possible RMD predictors taken into account in the analysis were: sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, being part of a couple, patient association membership, job status); disease characteristics (BASDAI, spinal stiffness, functional limitation in 18 daily activities; and mental health comorbidities. All clinical variables showed a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient guaranteeing the reliability of the scales used. First, a descriptive analysis was employed to describe the sample and study variables. Second, univariate correlation and homogeneity analyses between each predictor (independent variable) and RMD (GHQ-12) were performed. Results All variables except educational level and thoracic stiffness showed significant univariant correlation with RMD. BASDAI, functional limitation and age showed higher coefficient (r=0.543, p<0.001; r=0.378, p<0.001; r=−0.174, p<0.001, respectively). Multiple hierarchical regression analysis showed as sociodemographic variables explained in great detail the RMD (R2=83.2%). By contrast, having established sociodemographic as a control variable, the inclusion of depression and anxiety to the model increased the R2 value to just 0.6% (p<0.001), while the inclusion of variables related to the disease characteristics add 5.5% (p<0.001) to the GHQ-12 punctuation variability. The only variables presenting a significant coefficient different from 0 were BASDAI (0.52, p<0.001) and functional limitation (0.14, p<0.01). This suggests that once the sociodemographic and mental commorbidity variables are established, a change in BASDAI levels or functional limitation impacts the GHQ-12 score. In the stepwise regression analysis, four variables (BASDAI, functional limitation, association membership, cervical stiffness) showed a significant relation to GHQ-12 and explained the majority of RMD variability. BASDAI displayed the highest explanatory degree (R2=0.875, p<0.001).Abstract AB0874 – Table 1 Sample characteristics (n=474, unless other specified) Conclusions In axSpA, patients at certain sociodemographic levels are more prone to present a higher BASDAI. Taking these conditions for granted, the degree of disease progression measured by BASDAI is a good indicator of RMD. Therefore, in those patients with higher disease activity, psychiatric evaluation and intervention should be considered within the medical treatment. Acknowledgements The Atlas was promoted by CEADE and funded by Novartis Disclosure of Interest None declared