Disparities in rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-patient reported outcomes may be driven less by ethnicity than by socioeconomic or psychological factors, a recent study found. Researchers collected data through structured telephone interviews of a longitudinal cohort with physician-diagnosed RA (n=438); only women were included (n=335). Three groups were defined based on self-reported ethnicity and English proficiency: white/English (n=219), Hispanic/English (n=39), and Hispanic/Spanish (n=77). They examined patient-reported physical functioning, pain, and presence of moderate or severe fatigue. Multivariate regression analysis compared outcomes among groups, adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, health and disease factors, and depression. Researchers found:

• Hispanic/Spanish women had worse function, pain, and fatigue than either English-proficient group.

• Depression was associated with all outcomes, and accounted for greater differentials in scores than ethnicity/language proficiency.

• In interaction analyses, differences between women who were and who were not depressed were greater for Hispanic/English than for Hispanic/Spanish.

• Nondepressed Hispanic/Spanish scores were significantly worse than nondepressed Hispanic/English, ie, the impact of depression was less for Hispanic/Spanish women because both depressed and nondepressed women in this group reported worse outcomes.

• After adjustment for socioeconomic factors and depression, language remained significantly associated with outcomes.

Citation: Katz PP, Barton J, Trupin L, et al. Poverty, depression, or lost in translation? Ethnic and language variation in patient-reported outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis. [Published online ahead of print April 27, 2016]. Arthritis Care Res. doi:10.1002/acr.22748.