Journal of Anesthesiology and Pain

Aims and Background: The aim of the present study is prediction of depression in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis based on perception of pain and quality of sleep and it examines the mediating role of pain catastrophizing as a model. Few investigations have been reported regarding this subject. Also some limited results are still uncertain. Methods and materials: Research design was Correlation and study population including all elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Hafez rheumatology clinic at Shiraz. For this purpose, 150 patients participated in the study via convenient sampling. Research Tools included Geriatric Depression Scale, the McGill pain questionnaire, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Pain Catastrophizing Scale. In order to analyze the data, the path analysis by AMOS and the stepwise multiple regressions by SPSS were used. Findings: The results indicated that perception of pain and quality of sleep significantly predict pain catastrophizing and depression. The proposed model shows that perception of pain and quality of sleep with mediating role of pain catastrophizing can significantly predict depression. Conclusions: The finding of this study showed that we can prevent depression by special therapies such as: Cognitive- Behavior Therapy and Acceptance- Commitment Therapy for improving quality of sleep, reducing pain and controlling catastrophizing thought in these patients. Keywords: Perception of pain, Quality of sleep, Pain catastrophizing, Depression, Rheumatoid Arthritis.