Background: Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) is a chronic autoimmune rheumatic disease clinically characterized by the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies in the setting of thrombosis or pregnancy morbidity or complications. Due to its chronic systemic involvement, APS can cause biological, social, physical, and mood disturbances in patients. These effects on various parameters can also impact individuals’ quality of life.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to compare the physical activity levels, general health status, quality of life, and mood of patients diagnosed with APS with healthy individuals.

Methods: The study included 15 individuals diagnosed with APS and healthy individuals, and demographic data were recorded. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D) was used to assess anxiety and depression levels, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form (IPAQ) was used to determine physical activity levels, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was used to assess functional status, and the Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to evaluate quality of life. The responses of APS patients and healthy individuals were recorded. Demographic data and scale results were expressed as mean ± standard deviation (X ± SD). Since normal distribution was not observed in group comparisons, the Mann-Whitney U test was used.

Results: The mean age of APS patients (n=15) was 45.53±11.55 years and their body mass index (BMI) was 26.18±4.56 kg/m², while the mean age of healthy individuals (n=15) was 47.13±12.15 years and their BMI was 27.15±3.46 kg/m². The demographic characteristics of the groups were similar (p>0.05). While there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in the scores of HADS-anxiety, IPAQ, SF-36 subscales of Physical Role Difficulty, Energy-Fatigue, Social Functioning, Emotional Role Functioning and Mental Health (p=0.586; p=0.099; p=0.421, p=0.089, p=0.654, p=0.391, p=0.253, respectively), a significant difference was determined in HADS-depression, HAQ, SF-36’s Physical Functioning, Pain and General Health subscales (p=0.013; p=0.008; p=0.040, p=0.01, p<0.01, respectively).

Conclusion: At the end of the study, it was found that individuals with APS showed similar levels of anxiety, social functioning, energy depletion, emotional role functioning and physical inactivity compared to healthy individuals. However, individuals with APS showed differences compared to healthy individuals in terms of depression, physical functioning, pain and general health status. Despite similarities in some sub-parameters of anxiety status and quality of life, depression, general health status and pain were worse in patients with APS. This situation, considering the chronic nature of APS and its associated complications, suggests that these individuals may need support in certain areas. Considering these results, it can be said that it would be beneficial to investigate and conduct the management of individuals with APS with a multidisciplinary approach.

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Acknowledgements: NIL.

Disclosure of Interests: None declared.

© The Authors 2025. This abstract is an open access article published in Annals of Rheumatic Diseases under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ). Neither EULAR nor the publisher make any representation as to the accuracy of the content. The authors are solely responsible for the content in their abstract including accuracy of the facts, statements, results, conclusion, citing resources etc.