Fatigue is correlated with disease activity but not with the type of organ involvement in Behçet's syndrome: a comparative clinical survey.
OBJECTIVE
Fatigue is an important problem in inflammatory diseases and affects the quality of life (QoL). We aimed to evaluate the severity and impact of fatigue in Behçet's syndrome (BS) and to determine its association with type of organ involvement and gender.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-two BS, 51 rheumatoid arthritis (RA), 51 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), 51 ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients and 65 healthy controls were evaluated by the fatigue severity scale, fatigue impact scale, fibromyalgia impact questionnaire (FIQ), RAPID3, SF-36 and Behçet's syndrome activity scale (the latter only in BS patients). We also analysed subgroups of BS patients with predominantly eye, vascular, joint and mucocutaneous involvement and did an additional gender analysis.


RESULTS
Fatigue severity and fatigue impact scores were similar among BS, RA, SLE and AS patients and significantly higher than that in healthy controls (F4df=8.51; p<0.001 and F4df=8.67; p<0.001, respectively). The fatigue severity and fatigue impact scores were similarly high in BS subgroups with different types of organ involvement, and in both genders.


CONCLUSIONS
Fatigue is an important problem in BS, as it is in other inflammatory conditions. It is similarly severe in subgroups of patients with eye, vascular, joint and mucocutaneous involvement and in either gender. Fatigue is a candidate outcome measure for clinical trials, to assess the life impact of Behçet's syndrome.
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey; and Georg August University, University Medical Center Göttingen, Department of Hematology/Oncology, Göttingen, Germany.
Deram
D
Buyuktas
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey.
Gulen
G
Hatemi
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey.
Sukran
S
Yuksel-Findikoglu
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey.
Serdal
S
Ugurlu
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey.
Hasan
H
Yazici
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, Turkey. profsyurdakul@gmail.com.
Sebahattin
S
Yurdakul
D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017281:Cost of Illness; D018450:Disease Progression; D005221:Fatigue / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult