The Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Behcet’s Disease Manifestations

Abstract Background Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory condition mostly identified by recurrent oral aphthous ulcers and several systemic symptoms. The etiology of BD is not clear; however, some studies suggest some risk factors, such as low socioeconomic status (SES) and poor living conditions. This study aimed to determine the relationship between SES and the first manifestation of BD, the occurrence of symptoms, and the recurrence of ocular involvement. Methods In this cross-sectional study, clinical and laboratory data and socioeconomic features of 200 patients diagnosed with BD were recorded. Patients were classified into three quantiles of SES using principal component analysis (PCA) and regression model. Fisher's exact test and the chi-square test were used to measure differences among SES groups. Results The mean age of patients was 44.9 ± 12.6 years. Most of the participants (90.5%) resided in cities. Considering BD manifestations, ocular involvement recurrence mostly occurred in patients with low SES (n = 19, 42.22%) and less often with moderate SES (n = 9, 20.00%) compared to high SES (n = 17, 37.78%) (p = 0.033). Cataract involvement was more common in the low SES group (n = 31, 50.82%) compared to the moderate (n = 24, 39.34%) and high SES (n = 12, 20%) groups (p = 0.01). There were no other statistically significant differences regarding BD organ involvements or laboratory data among different SES groups. Conclusion The present evidence concludes that SES may be an important contributing factor in the course of BD. Low SES may deteriorate relapses of ocular involvement and cataracts. Whereas, moderate SES has a protective effect on relapse, and high SES protects against cataracts.