Background There are several studies that report psychiatric comorbidity in patients with rheumatic disease, mainly the presence of mood disorders. Some of them describe non-affective psychosis related with inflammatory processes. Population with chronic inflammatory disease could present subclinical psychotic experiences that can interfere in the patient's functional status. The Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale is a validated and widely used tool for the evaluation of these experiences in the general population.

Objectives To identify the presence of psychic experiences in different populations with a diagnosis of rheumatic disease, and to compare it with a sample of healthy subjects.

Methods 124 subjects completed surveys including SF-12 and CAPE questionnaires, as well as other demographic and behavioral variables. Among them, 70 had Spondylarthritis (SpA) (age 44.3±13 years, 62% female), 23 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (age 51.2±13 years, 82% female) and the rest were individuals without rheumatic diseases (47.6±12 years, 58% female).

Results Results of the SF-12 test in their mental and physical domains, and the CAPE questionnaire in their dimensions (positive, negative, depressive and total symptoms) are shown in the table, expressed as mean value (SD) and in the graph expressed as density histograms with mean values. Significant statistical differences, according a t de Student test with control group is shown in both (* p<0.05, ** p<0.01).

There were no significant differences in the mental component of the SF-12. These differences appear at the physical component, since patients have impaired their mobility and function due to their disease. About the CAPE questionnaire, patients had a little bit higher score due mainly to the appearance of depressive symptoms. The values of positive symptoms of psychosis remained within the normal range for diseases analyzed.

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Conclusions In our study, we found significant differences in the dimensions, especially depressive, of the CAPE scale among patients with rheumatic diseases (especially in SpA) and healthy subjects. This gives us an idea of the importance of considering the psychological problems of patients (anxiety, depression, ...) to improve the treatment of rheumatic disease.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank these patients' organizations for their collaboration in our study: Coordinadora Española de Asociaciones De Espondiloartritis (CEADE), Asociaciόn Cordobesa de Enfermos de Espondilitis (ACEADE), Asociaciόn Cordobesa de Enfermos de Artritis Reumatoide (ACOARE).

Disclosure of Interest None declared