Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that may affect multiple organ systems, including the central nervous system. Psychiatric symptoms, present in the majority of patients with SLE, may have severe consequences for the patients. The aim of the study was to assess the relation between psychological factors (anxiety and depression) and disease activity parameters in SLE patients.
Patients and Methods: This was a matched hospital-based case control study. The study consecutively enrolled 25 patients with SLE who fulfilled the 2012 systemic lupus international collaborating clinics (SLICC) classification criteria for SLE and 25 healthy individuals, matched for age and sex, who served as a control group. Both case and control groups were subjected to clinical and laboratory evaluation of disease activity and psychological assessment according to The International Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders tenth revision (ICD-10).
Results: About 52% of patients had depression and 48% had anxiety symptoms, while only 8% of controls reported mild depression and 8% had anxiety symptoms (p values 0.008 and 0.001 respectively). Data also showed highly significant correlation between disease activity measured by SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI) and both depression and anxiety (p < 0.01).
Conclusions: Psychiatric manifestations are common in SLE, and they positively correlated with the disease activity. Using ICD-10 as a standardized tool for assessment of anxiety and depression in SLE patients is valuable for future comparisons with other studies on SLE patients.