Background/Purpose: Behçet’s syndrome (BS) is a systemic vasculitis, characterised by recurrent oro-genital ulcers, ocular inflammation and skin manifestations; articular, vascular, gastro-enteric and neurological involvement may also occur.The complex pattern of BS profile can effect negatively on patients’ quality of life.
The primary aim of this study was to explore the role of quality of life in BS patients by means of patient reported outcome (PRO); the secondary aim was to study any correlation between disease activity, psychiatric symptoms and quality of life.

Methods: The study enrolled 147 patients (86 M, 61 F), all fulfilling the International Study Group (ISG) criteria for BS. Their mean age was 41 ± 7 years (18-77), while the disease duration was 11 ± 4 years (5-18) and the mean follow-up of 7 ± 3 years.
Disease activity was evaluated by means of the Behçet’s Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF), while Short-form-36 (SF-36) was used to evaluate quality of life. Disease activity was compared with the global SF-36 score and with each dimension, that includes physical functioning, physical disability, body pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, emotional disability, mental health according the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition (DSM-IV). The statistical analysis was performed using Student t-test, Mann-Whitney-U test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation.

Results: At time of evaluation, according BDCAF, 48 BS patients (33%) had clinically active disease characterized by concomitant types of involvement (40 muco-cutaneous involvement, 18 ocular involvement 8 joint involvement, 5 neurological involvement, 4 gastro-enteric). As expected, the overall SF- 36 scores were significantly lower in patients with clinically active disease. Notably, female BS patients had statistically significant lower scores in all SF-36 domains compared with male patients. When each domain of SF-36 was evaluated, we found that physical disability (p=0.004), body pain (p=0.006), general health (p=0.001), and vitality (p=0.001) were significantly lower in patients with disease activity. Notably, vitality (p=0.001), physical disability(p=0.004), social functioning (p=0.001), emotional disability (p=0.003) and mental health (p=0.001) were significantly lower in patients with muco-cutaneous active disease, compared with the other patients with active disease. Moreover, we found a significant correlation between disease activity, high frequency of bipolar disorder and worsening of quality of life.

Conclusion: The combination of PRO measures and disease activity have been demonstrated to add more information compared to the evaluation of disease activity alone. These considerations suggest that the correct assessment of BS needs a multi-dimensional approach, that includes disease activity, disease damage and quality of life.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/disease-activity-and-quality-of-life-in-behc%cc%a7ets-syndrome-the-role-of-patient-reported-outcome/