Page 47 - JCTR-10-2

Journal of Clinical and Translational Research 2024; 10(2): 141-150

Journal of Clinical and Translational Research

Journal homepage: http://www.jctres.com/en/home

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Emotional repression in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatism

Karine Grondin , Cécile Lalanne , Jean-Marc Sobhy Danial , Claire Jesson , Laetitia Diep , Maxime Aboudiab ,
1
1
2
1
1
1
Stéphanie Rouanet³, Sarah Salomon-Goëb , Vincent Goëb *
1
1
2
1 Department of Rheumatology, University Hospital of Amiens-Picardie, University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France, Department of Psychiatry,
University Hospital of Amiens-Picardie, University of Picardie Jules Verne, Amiens, France, Statistician Unit, StatEthic, Levallois-Perret, France
3
ARTICLE INFO Abstract:
Article history: Background: A person’s psychological background may support and direct the inflammatory
Received: August 14, 2023 evolution of a disease toward a specific type of chronic inflammatory rheumatism (CIR).
Accepted: November 7, 2023 Aim: This study aimed to identify a particular emotional profile of patients with CIR, particularly
Published Online: March 28, 2024 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA), based on psychological profile assessments
between patients with and without CIR. Emotional repression, that is, a tendency to inhibit the
Keywords: expression of negative feelings and/or unpleasant thoughts, was particularly studied.
Chronic inflammatory rheumatism Methods: This monocentric observational pilot study included patients from the rheumatology
Emotional repression department of a university hospital. These patients were systematically assessed for different
Coping psychological parameters by an experienced psychiatrist, and their clinical and biological
Stress characteristics were collected accordingly. Data analysis was performed using the Chi-squared test
Life event or Fisher’s exact test.
Emotional regulation Results: Fifty-nine patients were assessed: 47 patients with CIR (i.e., 27 with RA and 20 with SpA)
Rheumatoid arthritis (CIR group) and 12 non-CIR patients (i.e., nine with osteoarthritis, one with viral disease, one with
Spondyloarthritis osteoporosis, and one with osteomalacia) (control group). Severe emotional repression and early life
events were both significantly higher in the CIR group than in the control group (P = 0.02). In contrast,
*Corresponding author: severe psychological and somatic complaints were significantly higher in the control group than in the
Vincent Goëb CIR group (P < 0.01 and P = 0.01, respectively).
Rheumatology Department, University Hospital Conclusion: Our findings suggested that emotional repression from traumatic life events could
of Amiens-Picardie, University of Picardie aggravate the etiology and/or course of CIR. Therefore, appropriate psychological care should have a
Jules Verne, 1 Rue du Professeur Christian relevant place within the current therapeutic options for the clinical management of CIR.
Cabrol 80054 Amiens, France. Relevance for Patients: The management of CIR should include psychological support as learning
Email: Goeb.vincent@chu-amiens.fr coping mechanisms can facilitate the recovery of CIR patients.

© 2024 Author(s). This is an Open-Access
article distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 1. Introduction
License, permitting all non-commercial use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, The development of chronic inflammatory rheumatism (CIR) is multi-factorial
provided the original work is properly cited. (e.g., genetic, environmental, hormonal, infectious, and/or psychological), and the degree
of implication of these different factors in CIR onset has not been determined [1,2]. Several
studies on traumatic life events and stressful situations have suggested that such situations
could be implicated in triggering CIR onset and its symptomatic progression [3,4].
Non-pharmacological interventions have recently been used more frequently for disease
management, especially regular physical activity, educational therapeutic workshops with
support groups, and mindfulness meditation, among others. In addition, self-reported
evaluation and patient-reported outcomes have become increasingly important for the
assessment of diseases, suggesting that the patients’ psychological well-being is essential
in routine practice for rheumatologists to evaluate the efficacy of disease management

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36922/jctr.23.00099