Our aim in this study was to compare the depression and anxiety risk in patients with AS and healthy controls and also to determine the relationship between disease activity, quality of life and psychological well-being. Two hundred and forty-three patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 118 age-, sex- and education-matched healthy controls were enroled into the study. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), and Functional Index, and Metrology Index, Health Assessment Questionnaire for Spondyloarthropathies (HAQ-S), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) including depression subscale (HADS-D) and anxiety subscale (HADS-A), Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life (ASQoL) Scale, duration of morning stiffness, pain-visual analogue scale (VAS), patient and physician's global assessment of disease activity (100 mm VAS) were used to assess clinical and psychological status. Patients had similar HADS-D but higher HADS-A than healthy controls. Patients with high risk for depression and anxiety had higher scores in BASDAI, BASFI and also poorer scores in VAS pain, patient global assessment, physician global assessment, HAQ-S and ASQoL. There was a negative correlation of HADS-D and HADS-A scores with educational level of the patients. Higher scores in HADS-D and HADS-A indicated poorer functional outcome and quality of life. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the HADS-D (OR=6.84), HAQ-S (OR=1.76), VAS pain score (OR=1.03) and ESR (OR=1.02) were independent risk factors for higher anxiety scores whereas HADS-A (OR=1.36) and ASQoL (OR=1.24) were independent risk factors for higher depression scores. The psychological status had close interaction with disease activity and quality of life in patients with AS.

Frailty is one of the geriatric syndromes and has an important relationship with mortality and morbidity. The aim of this study is to present the characteristics, prevalence, and related factors of frailty in older adults in our country. The study included 1126 individuals over 65 years of age from 13 centers. Frailty was evaluated using the Fried Frailty criteria, and patients were grouped as Bfrail,^Bpre-frail,^and Bnon-frail.N utritional status was assessed with BMini Nutritional Test,^psychological status with the BCenter for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-CES-D,^and additional diseases with the "Charlson Comorbidity index." Approximately 66.5 % of the participants were between 65 and 74 years of age and 65.7 % were AGE (2015) women. Some 39.2 and 43.3 % of the participants were rated as frail and pre-frail, respectively. The multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with frailty. It was observed that age, female gender, low education level, being a housewife, living with the family, being sedentary, presence of an additional disease, using 4 or more drugs/day, avoiding to go outside, at least one visit to any emergency department within the past year, hospitalization within the past year, non-functional ambulation, and malnutrition increased the risk of frailty (p<0.05). Establishing the factors associated with frailty is highly important for both clinical practice and national economy. This is the first study on this subject in our country and will provide guidance in determining treatment strategies.

JOAS and AOAS had distinctive courses and Turkish patients with AS had similar features compared to other Caucasian patient populations.

The addition of back school was more effective than exercise and physical treatment modalities alone in the treatment of patients with chronic low back pain.

Background: Falls among the elderly are associated with a high morbidity and mortality and can involve high-cost medical interventions. The risk of falls often remains undiagnosed until an episode occurs but if the risk is high, preventative measures could be introduced. Objectives: This 6-month prospective study investigated whether different postural clinical measures and fear of falling (FOF) itself can predict future falls in postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years. Methods: 125 postmenopausal women were studied comparing the outcome of fallers vs. non-fallers within the 6-month follow-up study period. Clinical measures, history of falls and FOF data were determined at baseline and the number of falls and FOF were ascertained at the final visit or by telephone interview at 6 months. Results: Of the clinical measures investigated, the Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) >26 points (OR = 7.28, per additional point, 95% CI 2.25–23.61, p = 0.001) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) ≤52 points (OR = 4.77, per additional point, 95% CI = 1.15–19.82, p = 0.031) performed best in prediction of the future falls. Conclusions: Postmenopausal women aged ≥50 years who had FES-I scores >26 points and BBS ≤52 points should be examined for risk factors of future falls and offered preventative measures.