Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety and Their Association With Disease Activity in Patients With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study investigated the prevalence of depression and anxiety in 79 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and their association with disease activity. The findings revealed that 51.9% of participants experienced mild depression and 77.2% experienced mild anxiety, while 7.6% and 11.4% had severe depression and anxiety, respectively. Hair loss was the most common symptom, affecting 79.7% of participants, and was positively correlated with both depression and anxiety. Additionally, depression was linked to mouth ulcers and cardiac complications, while anxiety was associated with cardiac complications. The study concluded that depression and anxiety are prevalent in SLE patients and are linked to increased disease activity and specific clinical manifestations.