The purpose of this study was to look at the link between psychological representations of sickness, perceived health status, and self-assessment of symptom severity in people with Behçet disease, a rare long-term incurable ailment with an unknown cause. Data on self-administered questionnaires on illness perception, health status, symptom severity, and demographic factors were obtained from 273 patients with Behçet disease using a cross-sectional survey approach. The data were analyzed to see if the cognitive and emotional components of sickness perception influence the association between the intensity of symptoms and health status. The findings support our hypotheses that cognitive aspects of illness perception mediate the relationship between symptom activity and pain, whereas emotional aspects of illness mediate the relationship between disease activity and perceived energy level.
The strength of these mediation effects provides possible avenues for clinical psychologists and health care practitioners to pursue when building support programs. Researchers supplemented our study with an Open Access database with information on drug type, comorbid mood disorder, and comprehensive measurement of the severity of BD symptoms in order to share and accumulate interdisciplinary knowledge to help the development of therapies. Addressing the psychological components of BD will aid in the efficient management of difficult patients.
