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Although Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) progresses with attacks, its subclinical inflammation may continue in attack-free periods. To date, increased inflammatory cytokines have been reported in many psychiatric diseases. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the psychological symptoms, especially inattention/hyperactivity, in patients with FMF. The study included 272 children and adolescents with FMF and 250 healthy peers as a control group. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire-Parent Form was used to assess emotion, behavior and peer related problems, as well as inattention/hyperactivity and prosocial behavior in participants. The age and gender of the children were similar across groups. The emotional and behavioral problem subscale scores of patients with FMF were significantly higher than those of healthy controls. The inattention/hyperactivity scores of patients with FMF were also significantly higher than those of the control group (3.99 ± 2.34 vs 2.93 ± 2.26, p < 0.001). When patients with FMF were compared according to the presence of attacks in the last year, presence of exertional leg pain, no differences were found in terms of inattention/hyperactivity scores. However, patients whose FMF symptoms started before 6 years of age had significantly higher inattention/hyperactivity scores than those whose symptoms begun after 6 years of age. This research demonstrated that FMF patients had increased inattention/hyperactivity, which was unaffected by FMF-related variables, except for age of onset. The FMF-inattention/hyperactivity relationship may be due to a common etiology in which proinflammatory cytokines play a role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease, known for its heterogeneous clinical presentation. Although it is rarer in children, a more severe clinical course can be seen than in adults. It is known that sleep has physiological and developmental importance in children, and there are many studies on sleep quality in adult SLE patients. The aims of this study are to evaluate the sleep habits of children and adolescents with SLE and to compare them with their healthy peers. Methods: The study included 48 children and adolescents with SLE and 64 healthy peers as a control group. The Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire was used to evaluate the sleep characteristics of children. Results: The age and gender of the children were similar across groups. The bedtime resistance and night waking scores of SLE patients were significantly higher than those of the control group. Total sleep score was higher in patients with SLE than in the control group, but there was no significant difference (47.13±7.63 vs 44.61±8.17; p=0.051). Similarly, the rate of sleep disorders in the patient group (75%) was higher than that of the control group (61%), though the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.156). There was no correlation between disease severity and sleep problems. Conclusion: This research demonstrated that sleep disorders tend to increase in children and adolescents with SLE. Therefore, clinicians should pay attention to sleep disorders during the follow-up sessions of children and adolescents with SLE. Key Points • Sleep disorders tend to increase in children and adolescents with SLE. • Disease severity is not associated with sleep problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the psychological symptoms of children and adolescents with rheumatological diseases (RD) and their parents during the outbreak. A web-based questionnaire survey was conducted in a cross-sectional design in RD patients and healthy controls. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale was used to evaluate parental psychiatric status; while the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Child was used for children. Four hundred and fifty-nine patients with RD and their parents completed the present study, as well as 336 healthy peers. The age and gender of the children were similar across groups. Under 12 years of age, the trait anxiety of the children and the psychological symptoms of parents were similar across groups; while over 13 years of age, anxiety and depression scores of the parents, as well as trait anxiety of the children were higher than the control groups' (7.3 ± 3.4 vs 6.3 ± 3.8, p = 0.006 for parental anxiety; 6.6 ± 3.8 vs. 5.3 ± 3.9, p < 0.001 for parental depression; 36.1 ± 8.7 vs. 33.3 ± 7.9, p = 0.002 for child trait anxiety). In patient group, there were no differences in scale scores according to variables such as rheumatological disease diagnosis, the consulting of doctor for treatment, thinking that RD increases the risk of COVID-19, the history of rheumatic disease attack during the pandemic process, and the use of biological agents. The children's trait anxiety was positively correlated with their parents' anxiety (r = 0.414, p < 0.001) and depression (r = 0.300, p < 0.001) scores. These findings suggest that clinicians should pay attention to the psychiatric symptoms of both children with RD and their parents during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common hereditary autoinflammatory disease. The main goal of our study is to compare sleep habits, depression and anxiety of patients with FMF to healthy children and to determine the influence of disease‐related factors on sleep habits and psychiatric symptoms. Method: In total, 323 child and adolescent patients with FMF and 260 healthy peers as a control group were included in this study. Questionnaires were used to evaluate sleep habits, psychological status of children and adolescents with and without FMF. Results: While there was not a significant difference in terms of age, gender, depression and anxiety scores (P > 0.05); patients with FMF had significantly higher total sleeping score (45.69 ± 7.70 vs 43.31 ± 7.77; P = 0.001). Depression and anxiety scores of patients with FMF who have been experiencing sleep problems were found to be dramatically higher compared to those FMF patients without sleep problems (7.70 ± 5.56 vs 4.59 ± 3.97; P = 0.001; 35.46 ± 18.57 vs 25.22 ± 14.12; P = 0.001; respectively). Patients with FMF who had a disease attack last month had remarkably higher depression, anxiety and sleeping scores compared to those who did not. When FMF patients were compared in terms of exertional leg pain, increased acute phase reactant levels, comorbidity and mutation types, there was not a significant difference for depression, anxiety and sleeping scores. Conclusion: Children and adolescents with FMF experience more sleeping problems compared to healthy children and in presence of sleeping disorders, psychiatric symptoms are seen more frequently. Therefore, evaluation of psychopathology is important if youth with FMF have sleep problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]