The Trends in the Prevalence of Arthritis and Arthralgia and Their Associations with Extra-Articular Manifestations in Patients with Behcet's Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

Objectives: Articular involvement has been one of the most common findings of Behcet's disease. The present study aimed to systematically evaluate the trends in the prevalence of arthritis and arthralgia, as well as their potential associations with extra-articular manifestations of the disease.

Methods: Observational studies that reported the prevalence of arthritis or arthralgia were included. Pooled prevalence with corresponding 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Univariate meta-regression was performed to evaluate the potential associations of articular manifestations with extra-articular manifestations of Behcet's disease.

Results: A total of 120 articles were included. The pooled prevalence of arthritis and arthralgia were 0.34 (95%CI: 0.30-0.39) and 0.37 (96%CI: 0.30-0.45). The peripheral joints were mostly affected in the form of oligoarthritis. There were significant positive associations between the prevalence of arthralgia and the proportion of females and skin lesions, and between the prevalence of arthritis and skin lesions and erythema nodosum.

Conclusions: The present study highlighted the decreasing trend of arthritis over the years and the predominance of peripheral involvement and oligoarthritis, particularly in the knees. Additionally, it showed that there are significant associations but not necessarily causal relationships between the prevalence of both arthritis and arthralgia and the prevalence of skin lesions.