Relação entre artralgia persistente após diagnóstico de chikungunya e qualidade de vida, saúde mental e absenteísmo laboral

Abstract

Introduction: chikungunya typically manifests with fever and arthralgia that can persist for months to years. The permanence of joint pain for long periods can cause inability to perform daily activities. AIM: to describe the quality of life, mental health and impact on work of persistent arthralgia in patients with chikungunya. Methodology: between June 2019 and March 2020, a surveillance study for febrile and acute rash illnesses identified patients with laboratory evidence (qRT-PCR or Elisa IgM) of chikungunya virus infection in an Emergency Care Unit in Salvador - Bahia. Between October 2021 and January 2022, identified cases aged ≥ 18 years were interviewed by telephone to collect data on persistence of arthralgia and its impact. Participants who reported joint pain for ≥90 days were classified as having persistent arthralgia and the others without persistent arthralgia. To assess quality of life, the general question about self-assessment of health from the SF-12 scale instrument was used, and to assess mental health, questionnaires from the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scales were applied. Closed questions were used to assess work absenteeism. Relative and absolute frequencies, and measures of central tendency and dispersion were calculated to describe participants and their outcomes. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Instituto Gonçalo Moniz. Results: of the 63 cases of chikungunya interviewed, 42 participants (66.7%) had persistent arthralgia. Low level of quality of life was reported by 68.3% of those with persistent arthralgia and by 30.0% of those without persistent arthralgia. Anxiety symptoms were reported by 43.9% and 35.0% of those with and without persistent arthralgia, and symptoms of depression by 24.4% and 5.0%, respectively. Leave from work occurred in 83.0% and 50.0%, respectively. Conclusion: although the sample size limited the power to verify whether the differences were statistically significant, the study reinforces the negative impact of chikungunya on mental health, quality of life and work, highlighting the need for adequate dimensioning of health services to guarantee psychological assistance and rehabilitation to patients.