3 research outputs found
Global systematic review and meta-analysis of health-related quality of life in Behcet’s patients
Background: Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic fatal illness with a relapsing
remitting nature and significant organ-threatening morbidity and mortality. The aim of this
research was to examine studies which were conducted on investigation of prevalence of
quality of life among patients with Behcet’s disease.
Methods: A total of 13 articles were extracted from four main databases including PubMed,
EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science from the onset of 2000 to January 2021. All studies
published in English with the purpose of examining quality of life (QOL) among patients
with BD or investigating its main determinants were included.
Results: Totally, 1137 BD patients participated in 13 studies. Based on random effect
analysis, the total score of physical health-related QOL was 46.7 (95% CI=41.26 to 52.13)
and the total score of mental health-related QOL was 49.01 (95% CI=43.83 to 54.18)
representing a moderate level of QOL among BD patients. Furthermore, weighted effect size
analyses showed a significant correlation between QOL and variables such as patients’ age,
gender, disease duration and depression (pvalue: 0.00).
Conclusion: As the symptoms of BD worsen over time, patients confront with more severe
body pain, mobility restrictions, and difficulties in chewing, eating, speaking and
swallowing which negatively affect social interactions of patients and reduce their QOL.
Furthermore, depression was proved to act as a deteriorating factor for Health-Related
Quality of Life (HRQOL) among BD patients. Thus, patients need to be psychologically
supported by a specialized team and be informed during the course of treatment to gain
useful information about the disease, treatment approaches and coping strategies