Objective: Anxiety and depression are associated with the risk of illness, presence of physical symptoms, and poor health in the COVID-19 epidemic. Our aim is to assess the severity of anxiety and depression in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods: The study is a longitudinal, hospital-based survey study including 102 RA patients receiving disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs with a mean of 55,2±11,9 years. Demographic data, educational status, marital status, employment status, economic status, patients with psychiatric disorders (with the use of prescribed medication for treatment), and medications were recorded. The severity of depression and anxiety were evaluated with the Beck Anxiety and Depression Inventory at the first and second visit of the follow-up during the pandemic period. Results: The mean Beck depression inventory score was found to be higher in the conventional synthetic DMARDs group than in biological DMARDs (12,1±8,2 vs 11,6±9,2, p=0,554). 46 (65,7%) had mild to severe anxiety symptoms in RA patients treated with conventional synthetic DMARDs, on the first visit. There was no significant difference in anxiety and depression status between the first and second visits. The difference in anxiety and depression symptoms between RA patients receiving conventional synthetic and biological DMARDs does not attain statistical significance. Also, no significant differences were found in anxiety and depression scores in the comparisons for gender, education, marital, working, and economic status. Conclusions: The severity of depression and anxiety were higher in RA patients receiving conventional synthetic DMARDs and biological DMARDs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, RA patients are likely to experience anxiety and depression during the period of the pandemic.

BackgroundSjogren’s syndrome (SS); is a chronic multisystem inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by dry eyes and mouth, involving lymphocytic infiltration of the lacrimal and salivary glands. Glandular involvement and extraglandular symptoms involving various organs and systems can be seen in patients. It can be seen in all age groups, although it is most common in those aged 45-50 years. The average female/male incidence rate is 9/1.ObjectivesOur aim in this study is to present the demographic, clinical and serological characteristics of patients diagnosed with SS.MethodsOur study included 466 patients diagnosed with SS according to the 2016 ACR/EULAR Classification Criteria. Age, gender, primary/secondary SS status of the patients; organ involvement, salivary gland biopsy and serological features were recorded. Descriptive statistics were given as mean±standard deviation, frequency (n), and percent (%).ResultsThe mean age of 466 (433 females, 33 males) patients in the study was 55.4±13.5 years. The female/male ratio was 13/1. There were 408 (87.5%) patients with primary SS diagnosis and 58 (12.5%) patients with secondary SS diagnosis. 67% of patients with a diagnosis of secondary SS had rheumatoid arthritis. The most common clinical presentation complaints were dry eye (86%) and dry mouth (67.8%). In our study, anti-nuclear antibody positivity was found to be 83.4%, rheumatoid factor positivity was 22.1%. Ro-52 antibody was positive in 56.4% of the patients. As a result of the evaluation in terms of organ/system involvement; pulmonary involvement was found in 45 patients (9.6%). Moreover; primary biliary cirrhosis in 18 (3.8%) patients, adrenal insufficiency in 1 (0.2%) patient, chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis in 2 (0.4%) patients, crescentic glomerulonephritis in 1 (0.2%) patient, optic neuropathy was found in 1 (0.4%) patient, and lymphoma was found in 1 (0.2%) patient (Table 1).ConclusionSjögren’s syndrome can affect almost any organ system, thus various systemic manifestations may occur. The disease is characterized by pleomorphic clinical manifestations, which can vary greatly in features and severity from one patient to another. Diagnosis of the disease is based on characteristic clinical signs and symptoms as well as specific tests including salivary gland histopathology and autoantibodies.Table 1.Demographic, Clinical and Serological Characteristics of Sjögren’s Syndrome Patientsn%Primary SS40887,5Secondary SS•Rheumatoid Arthritis•Systemic Sclerosis•Systemic Lupus Erythematosus583911812,567,218,913,7Salivary gland biopsy positivity24753Dry mouth31667,8Dry eye40186Locomotor system•Arthritis/arthralgia16535,4Organ/system involvement•Pulmonary İnvolvement•Primary Biliary Cirrhosis•Autoimmune Hepatitis•Vasculitis•Amyloidosis•Chronic Tubulointestial Nephritis•Kresentik Glomerülonefrit•Adrenal İnsufficiency•Optic Neuropathy•Lymphoma451834121119,63,80,60,80,20,40,20,20,2Anti-Nuclear Antibody positivity38983,4Ro-52 positivity26356,4Rheumatoid factor positivity10322,1REFERENCES:NIL.Acknowledgements:NIL.Disclosure of InterestsNone Declared.