The Link Between Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis and Psychiatric Morbidity

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis describes arthritis occurring under the age of 16. There are several different classifications that fall under this banner. Pain has long been acknowledged to be associated with psychiatric morbidity, particularly depression. There is a lack of definitive psychiatric management advice regarding JIA sufferers and it was considered by the authors this may be due to a lack of unifying literature, as such a brief review was undertaken. The findings highlight from the results from several studies, the high prevalence of depression in amongst JIA sufferers. One study also discusses somatoform disorders, which also have increased prevalence in JIA patients. This review thus emphasises the necessity of ensuring paediatric psychiatric management within the care package offered to JIA patients, particularly as 50% of patients continue to have symptoms in their adult life, thus impacting on their long term psychiatric status.