Does illness perception associate with disease symptoms in Behçet's disease?

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Psychodermatology
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Behçet disease (BD) is a complex systemic vasculitis with varied clinical manifestations.
• Understanding patient perspectives on illness is crucial for effective disease management.
• Illness perception influences how patients cope with and experience chronic conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between illness perception and disease course/symptoms in Behçet disease (BD).
• To compare illness perception between BD patients and a control group with Psoriasis.
• To identify specific illness perception domains associated with particular symptoms in BD.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 110 BD patients and 57 Psoriasis patients.
• Illness perception was assessed using the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R).
• Statistical analyses compared IPQ-R scores between patient groups and subgroups based on symptom involvement.

Main Results:

• BD patients with musculoskeletal involvement reported higher symptom identity scores (more symptoms).
• BD patients with musculoskeletal and eye involvement showed higher consequences and timeline scores, indicating negative illness beliefs.
• Psychological attribution scores were higher in psoriasis patients compared to BD patients.

Conclusions:

• Patient beliefs and emotional responses to symptoms, especially musculoskeletal and ocular symptoms, significantly affect outcomes in Behçet disease.
• Illness perception, as measured by the IPQ-R, offers valuable insights into the patient experience of BD.
• Psychological attribution is a more prominent feature in the perception of psoriasis than Behçet disease.