ABSTRACT
AIM: To study attitude towards the disease in rheumatic patients during antidepressant therapy and during further follow-up. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Examinations were made in 122 patients with degenerative joint and vertebral column disease (DJVCD) and in 30 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and concomitant affective disorders during antidepressant therapy for 3 months. RESULTS: Statistically significant differences were found between all components of the type of attitude towards disease (TATD) in patients with DJVCD or RA before the use of antidepressants. In the patients with RA, the mean value of adaptive types of TATD was significantly lower and that of disadaptive types significantly higher. After 3 months of treatment, the TATD profiles came closer. Only three components (anosognosia, hypochondriasis, and dysphoria) in the pattern of TATD remained significantly different after 6-month therapy. CONCLUSION: According to the TATD data, both the patients with DJVCD and those with inflammatory diseases of the locomotor apparatus showed unidirectional changes in attitude towards disease with a significant increase in the adaptive components and a reduction in the disadaptive ones.
