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. 2023 Apr 27;12(9):3149.
doi: 10.3390/jcm12093149.

Psychiatric Symptoms and Cognitive Disorders in Behçet's Disease: A Single-Center, Cross-Sectional Study

Fanny Urbain  1   2 , Isabelle Hardy-Léger  1 , Ghaidaa Adebs-Nasser  3 , Mathilde de Menthon  1 , Cécile Pivert  1 , Aude Mausoléo  1 , Ariane Laparra  1 , Nathalie Lerolle  1 , Paul-Albert Domnariu  1 , Olivier Lambotte  1   2   4   5 , Christian Denier  2   6 , Cécile Goujard  1   2   7 , Alicia Castro-Gordon  1 , Nicolas Noel  1   2   4   5
Affiliations

Psychiatric Symptoms and Cognitive Disorders in Behçet's Disease: A Single-Center, Cross-Sectional Study

Fanny Urbain et al. J Clin Med. .

Abstract

Background: Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare form of vasculitis involving both veins and arteries of all calibers. Psychological symptoms and cognitive impairment appear to be frequent, but few data are available.

Methods: All consecutive patients in our center fulfilling the 2013 BD criteria underwent a psychometric evaluation with auto- (SCL-90-R and Modified Fatigue Index) and hetero-questionnaires (MINI). A standardized test battery assessed cognitive dysfunction. Data were correlated with BD activity as well as quality of life (SF-36).

Results: We included 20 consecutive patients (16 men, four women) with a median [IQR] age of 38 (30.0-45.5) and a median disease duration of 7 years (1.8-11.0). Five patients had an abnormal brain MRI. The SCL-90-R questionnaire highlighted eight psychopathological profiles (42.1%) that correlated with altered quality of life and more severe fatigue. The most frequent symptoms were anxiety (9/19, 47.4%), somatization (8/19, 42.1%) and phobia (5/19, 26.3%). Psychopathological symptoms appeared to be more severe, but not more frequent, in neuro-Behçet's patients. Based on standardized cognitive evaluation, nine patients had cognitive impairment defined by three or more altered tests. Notably, 6/9 patients did not have any complaint of memory loss and were thus considered ansognostic.

Conclusion: Cognitive involvement was significantly associated with BD activity score (BSAS) but not with brain MRI abnormalities.

Keywords: Behçet’s disease; cognitive impairment; neuropsychiatry; psychopathology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Quality of Life (SF-36) (A) and Fatigue (MFI-20) (B) with or without neuro-Behçet’s. Short-form 36 (SF-36) is an auto-questionnaire about health-related symptoms. Each subscale ranges from 0 to 100, corresponding to the worst and best health state in each dimension, respectively. The 20-item Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) questionnaire evaluates four domains: general fatigue, reduced activity, motivation and mental fatigue.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Quality of Life (SF-36) (A) and Fatigue (MFI-20) (B) with or without neuro-Behçet’s. Short-form 36 (SF-36) is an auto-questionnaire about health-related symptoms. Each subscale ranges from 0 to 100, corresponding to the worst and best health state in each dimension, respectively. The 20-item Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) questionnaire evaluates four domains: general fatigue, reduced activity, motivation and mental fatigue.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Psychopathological profiles of the cohort (SCL-90-R). (A): Frequency of psychopathological symptoms amongst patients according to SCL-90-R test (n = 18). (B): Comparison in health-related symptoms via Short-Form 36 between patients with and without psychopathological profiles. (C): Comparison in fatigue symptoms via Modified Fatigue Index between patients with and without psychopathological profiles.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Psychopathological profiles of the cohort (SCL-90-R). (A): Frequency of psychopathological symptoms amongst patients according to SCL-90-R test (n = 18). (B): Comparison in health-related symptoms via Short-Form 36 between patients with and without psychopathological profiles. (C): Comparison in fatigue symptoms via Modified Fatigue Index between patients with and without psychopathological profiles.
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