OSTEOARTHRITIS, DEPRESSION AND THE WAITING TIME FOR TREATMENT.

Introduction and Objectives: Knee osteoarthritis (KA) is a degenerative disorder of the articular cartilage which is associated with several other problems. The study aimed to determine the severity of patients with osteoarthritis, the prevalence of depression and the waiting time for treatment. Methods: This study included patients who seek orthopedic clinic at Saint House hospital in Fortaleza-Ce and after the physical and imaging exams received diagnosis of KA and surgical indication as treatment. We applied the Lequesne questionnaire (LQ), Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and another questionnaire to obtain the waiting times (WT) for surgery. Results and Conclusion: 61 patients over age 60 were included. There was an association of high scores of Lequesne (SL) with female sex (P=0,026) and high scores with advancing age (P=0,035). Of total, 60% of patients were classified as extremely severe according to the SL and 29% as very severe. About WT, 80.32% waited 1 to 5 years to undergo surgery. Of total sample, 60% wanted to answer the questions for GDS. After applying the GDS, it was found that 73% had depression, furthermore the higher the SL the higher the scores of the GDS (P = 0,004). This analysis concluded that several patients seek for medical help when they are in later stages of osteoarthritis. Besides, depression is associated with the disorder and with its severity. Therefore, the WT for surgery must be shorter. The LQ is easy to apply and should be applied by any family medical doctor to detect osteoarthritis in its early stages.