Aim of the work: To determine the frequency of depression in Behçet’s disease (BD) patients and to clarify
its burden on patients’ clinical manifestations, disease activity status and quality of life (QoL).
Patients and methods: 35 BD patients with 35 matched control were included in this study. Disease activity
was assessed by Behçet Syndrome Activity Score (BSAS). All participants were requested to complete
the Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS), Multidimensional assessment of fatigue (MAF) questionnaire
and the short form-36 (SF-36) QoL Scale.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 40.3 ± 13.5 years (17–72 years) and they were 27 males and 8
females. The frequency of depression in BD patients was 74.3% with increased male frequency (p = 0.007)
and major organ involvement (p = 0.04) among depressed patients. Significant differences (p < 0.001,
p = 0.04, p = 0.001 respectively) between depressed and non depressed BD patients with respect to
BSAS, MAF and SF-36. Highly significant positive correlations between HDRS and number of major organ,
BSAS, MAF, (p < 0.001) and significant correlation with number of non major organs (r = 0.3, p = 0.04).
Significant negative associations were observed between HDRS and SF-36 (r =
0.6, p < 0.001). On regression
number of major organ involvement (p < 0.001), BSAS (p = 0.01), MAF (p = 0.002), and SF-36 QoL
(p < 0.001) significantly correlated with HDRS.
Conclusion: Depression is a significant comorbidity in patients with BD and is closely related to fatigue,
number of major organ involvement and overall disease activity with a negative impact on QoL.
Therefore, early interference and depression management in routine clinical practice is important to
reduce patients’ symptoms, and improve QoL.