Anxiety and Depression in Behçet’s Disease Without Explicit Neurological Involvement

Introduction: Behçet’s disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disease that affects all arterial and venous vessels. It goes with exacerbation and remission, and stress has been considered a factor for exacerbation of symptoms. High rates of depression and anxiety have been reported in BD. It has been claimed that medications used in treatment and loss of functionality may be the underlying cause of these high rates. In our study, by especially considering patients without neurological involvement, we aimed to evaluate anxiety and depression in cases where anxiety and depression were not triggered by organic causes.

Methods: Thirty-nine subjects diagnosed with BD and 79 healthy controls were included in this study. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Behçet’s Disease Current Activity Form were applied to all the participants.

Results: All the participants’ ages ranged between 24 and 69 years (median=41; IQR=10). Sixty-nine of them were females. There was no significant difference between the groups according to sociodemographic characteristics. Although BD patients were in remission, BDI and BAI scores were significantly higher in the BD group compared to the healthy control group (p=0.006 and p=0.003, respectively).

Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, BD patients exhibited more anxiety and depression symptoms. Although the patients did not have active lesions, one of the reasons why they were more depressive and anxious may be due to attitudes and prejudices about the disease.

Keywords: Anxiety, Behçet’s disease, depression