Fall Risk in Patient with Behcet's Disease and Related Factors.

OBJECTIVE

Balance disorders and related falls can cause serious situations that affect the lives of a large number of people and may even be fatal. We have not found any studies about fall risk in Behçet's disease in the literature before. In this trial, we aimed to investigate the fall risk in patients with Behçet's disease using an objective computerized technique and evaluated the risk factors for falls in these patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We have included 65 patients with Behçet's disease and 50 controls in this study. Their vitamin D levels, vitamin B12 levels, and magnesium levels were also determined. The Behçet's Current Activity Index was used for evaluating disease activity. We used the Falls Efficacy Scale International to evaluate fall efficiency. Tetrax Interactive Balance System was used for posturographic evaluation to objectively determine balance and fall risk.

RESULTS

The Behçet's Current Activity Indices of the patients were 4.17 ± 1.99 (mean ± standard deviation). Fall anamnesis, fall risk assessment, Falls Efficacy Scale International, and visual analog scale levels in the patient group were higher than in the control group. There were also significant differences between the 2 groups for fall anamnesis, fall risk assessment, and visual analog scale values. We found a statistically significant correlation between fall risk with visual analog scale (r=0.437, P < .001) and the Behçet's Current Activity Index (r=0.366, P=.003).

CONCLUSION

Our study found that fall risk was higher in patients with Behçet's disease than in the control group after evaluation by an objective computerized technique. An increase in the risk of falling seems to be related to the activity of the disease.