Treatment of Depression in patients with Osteoarthritis: the importance of an early diagnosis and the role of Duloxetine.

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis (OA) also called degenerative joint disease is the most common chronic condition of the joints that just in 2004, caused moderate to severe disability in 43.4 million of people. OA in Western populations is one of the most frequent causes of joint pain, loss of function and disability in adults. In the U.S. it is the second most common cause of work disability in men over 50 years of age, following ischaemic heart disease, and accounts for a higher number of hospitalizations when compared with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) each year. This condition is associated with chronic pain (which can be severe in many cases) and long term inflammatory processes which all together represent conditions that are known to be associated with depression. Depression is among the most burdensome disorders worldwide having affected just in 2010 15.4 million adults worldwide. Depression is associated with increase of symptom burden, greater level of functional impairment and increased risk of both disease complications and mortality. With this research we wished to put in evidence the importance of an early diagnosis of Depression in patients with osteoarthritis by using PHQ9 and suggest Duloxetine as an antidepressant that can be helpful in the management of not only pain but also depression in OA patients. METHODS: Our study is a literature based research. CONCLUSION: Early Diagnosis of depression of patients with osteoarthritis appears to be crucial for improving the outcomes of patients with OA and that can be easily and efficiently done with PHQ9. Duloxetine presents itself as an ally in the fight against the evolution of depression in patients with OA and should be considered even in mild to moderate states of depression.