Abstract

Objectives: Behçet's disease (BD) is an episodic and chronic multisystemic disease. Many comorbid psychiatric disorders are frequently encountered in BD. In addition, it is reported that individuals with chronic diseases during the epidemic period are at risk for COVID-19 infection. Therefore, these situations may cause anxiety levels to increase and coping strategies to decrease overall psychological conditions in patients with BD. However, individuals with both psychiatric complaints and comorbid inflammatory and chronic diseases such as BD are more prone to this stressful situation than healthy individuals. In the current study, we aimed to determine whether patients with Behçet’s Disease (BD) are psychologically more sensitive than healthy individuals and whether disease severity increase with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: One hundred and fifty-six patients with BD and 156 healthy volunteers were included in the study. All participants received Perceived COVID-19 Threat Form (PCTF), Suicide-Ideation Scale (SIS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), The Ability to Cope with Trauma (PACT), well-being index (PGWB) scales.
Results: When the responses of the patient with BD and control groups to the psychiatric evaluation scales were examined; the mean scores of PCTF (p

Key words: COVID-19; Behçet’s Disease, Psychological Well-Being; BSAS; Depression; Anxiety