Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and debilitating immunological disorder that majorly affects joints with swollen and painful characteristics. These patient-reported symptoms worsen their quality of life, which may consequently, predispose them to having major depression.

Method: Using a simple random sampling, one hundred and eleven adult patients in the age range of 18 to 64 years with rheumatoid arthritis were cross-sectionally evaluated at the rheumatology Out-Patient Clinic of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. The socio-demographic questionnaire, WHO Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Short Form (WHOQOL- BREF) were administered to participants to obtain their demographic/clinical variables, make diagnosis of depressive disorder and assess their subjective quality of life respectively.

Results: About one-third (n=33; 29.7%) of the participants reported having current depressive disorder. None of the tested variables after controlling for the cofounders was found to be an independent risk factor for current depression among the participants.

Conclusion: The prevalence of major depressive disorder is high among individuals with rheumatoid arthritis, and specialists managing this population should routinely screen for depression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.