Psychiatric manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus in Singapore. A cross-cultural comparison.

In a case-control, cross-cultural study of the psychiatric morbidity of systemic lupus erythematosus in an Oriental population, 30 patients suffering from SLE and 29 controls with rheumatoid arthritis were interviewed. The SLE patients in Singapore exhibited greater psychiatric morbidity than their Western counterparts. Significant correlation was observed between psychiatric morbidity and the clinical disease activity. The patient's perception of the severity of arthritis, myalgia and dermatological lesions was an important aetiological factor. Culturally determined, disease-related psychological stresses also contributed to the psychopathology.