The psychosocial status of the family members of rheumatoid arthritis patients in Korea

To investigate the psychosocial aspect of the family members of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), we conducted a population-based analysis to examine the psychosocial characteristics of family members of RA patients in comparison with the general population. From the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey dataset (KNHANES V) (2010–2012), we identified 363 RA patients and selected family members of these patients who were aged 20 years or older (n = 367). The control group was randomly sampled from members of families without RA patients and matched for sex and age (n = 1101). We compared the psychosocial characteristics of family members of RA patients with the control group. Additionally, serial conditional logistic regression models were performed to evaluate the factors that affect psychosocial status of the RA family members, after adjusting for covariates. No significant differences were found in socioeconomic status between the two groups. For psychological factors, stress (85.8 vs 74.7 %, p < 0.001) and depression (7.9 vs 3.3 %, p < 0.001) were more common in the family members of RA patients. The presence of a RA patient in the family showed a positive association with stress [odds ratio (OR) 2.07; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.48–2.88, p < 0.001] and depression (OR 2.59, CI 1.55–4.32, p < 0.001), after adjusting for socioeconomic status. Our data show that the family members of RA patients have an increased prevalence of stress and depression. Physicians who treat RA patients should also consider the needs and the burden of family members.