Better marital adjustment is associated with lower disease activity in early inflammatory arthritis

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the association between marital adjustment and disease outcomes in patients with early inflammatory arthritis. Materials and methods: Patients with average disease duration of 7.66 ± 3.79 months were recruited from a larger early inflammatory arthritis registry, which recorded sociodemographic data and disease characteristics. The acute phase reactant C-reactive protein (CRP) levels were measured and disease activity was estimated using the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). Patient and spouse perceived marital adjustment was assessed by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). Results: The study sample consisted of 73 patients living with their spouses. The mean age of the study participants was 54.30 ± 12.09 years and 64.4% were female. Patient-perceived marital adjustment (DAS-Patient) was negatively correlated to CRP (P = 0.007) and DAS28 (P = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, DAS-Patient contributed to the dependent variable DAS28 after controlling for CRP. Conclusion: The current study indicates that better marital adjustment is associated with lower disease activity. The possible reciprocal relationship between marital adjustment and illness highlights the relevance for clinicians to include both patients and their spouses in interventions.