The anxiety between individuals with and without joint hypermobility

Background and Objectives: This study was performed to compare the anxiety disorders between individuals with and without joint hypermobility. Methods: A total of 94 Turkish volunteers, 40 subjects (38 females, 2 males) with joint hypermobility and 54 controls (47 females, 7 males) without joint hypermobility, were in- cluded in this study. We evaluated the joint hypermobility by using the Beighton scoring system in the participants and a Beighton score of at least 4 was considered as joint hy- permobility. In addition, all cases were evaluated with Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID-I) and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale by a psychiatrist in order to define their psychyatric disorders and anxiety levels, respectively. Results: Age, gender and educational levels of the participants were similar between these two groups. Mean of anxiety score was higher statistically in the study group (13.5 ± 5.3) than that of the control group (11.1 ± 4.9) (p < 0.05). No statistically a significant difference in the ratio of psychyatric disorders according to SCID-I were observed be- tween cases with and without hypermobility. Conclusions: Anxiety scores have been found significantly higher in the group with hy- permobility than that of the group without hypermobility. We strongly recommend the as- sessment of medical conditions, including joint hypermobility syndrome, in anxiety patients.