Attack-Related Anticipatory Anxiety Symptoms in Familial Mediterranean Fever: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study

Background and Objectives: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a chronic autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent inflammatory attacks and a persistent psychosocial burden. Although generalized anxiety symptoms have been investigated in FMF, disease-specific anticipatory concerns related to recurrent attacks remain insufficiently understood. This study aimed to investigate the associations of attack-related anticipatory anxiety symptoms with clinical characteristics, quality of life, and composite inflammatory indices in FMF. Materials and Methods: This exploratory cross-sectional study included 38 adult patients with FMF. Attack-related anticipatory anxiety symptoms were assessed using an exploratory six-item questionnaire. Generalized anxiety and quality of life were evaluated using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Short-Form-12 (SF-12), respectively. Composite inflammatory indices including the C-reactive protein-albumin-lymphocyte (CALLY) index, log-CALLY, hemoglobin-albumin-lymphocyte-platelet (HALP) score, and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were calculated from routine laboratory parameters. Results: Attack-related anticipatory anxiety scores demonstrated a significant positive correlation with GAD-7 scores (r = 0.581, p < 0.001) and an inverse correlation with SF-12 mental component scores (r = -0.380, p = 0.019). Direct correlations between attack-related anticipatory anxiety scores and composite inflammatory indices were weak and not statistically significant. In subgroup analysis, a higher annual attack burden was associated with higher GAD-7 scores, higher CRP and serum amyloid A values, and lower CALLY, log-CALLY, and HALP values. Differences in attack-related anticipatory anxiety, SF-12 MCS, and SII between attack burden groups did not reach statistical significance. In multivariable linear regression analysis, GAD-7 score remained independently associated with attack-related anticipatory anxiety symptoms (β = 0.438, p = 0.010). Conclusions: Attack-related anticipatory anxiety symptoms may represent an exploratory psychosocial dimension of FMF associated mainly with generalized anxiety symptoms and impaired mental well-being. Composite inflammatory indices appeared more closely related to annual attack burden than to attack-related anticipatory anxiety. These findings should be interpreted cautiously and considered hypothesis-generating.