High pain catastrophizing scores in one-fourth of patients on biotherapy for spondylarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.

Objectives: To measure catastrophizing scores in patients on biotherapy for spondyloarthritis (SpA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: The first 140 outpatients or day-hospital patients seen at a teaching hospital rheumatology department for biotherapy administration completed the validated French version of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS, total score ranging from 0 to 52); a questionnaire on perceived support and past, current, and future disease activity; and a questionnaire on perceived understanding of their disease by family and co-workers.

Results: PCS scores were significantly higher in the 54 SpA patients than in the 86 RA patients (20.