ArticleClinical rheumatology2026
Social appearance anxiety and its associations with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION/
objectivesThis study aimed to evaluate social appearance anxiety in patients with systemic sclerosis compared with healthy controls and to examine its associations with anxiety, depressive symptoms, health-related quality of life, and disease-related clinical features.
methodThis cross-sectional study included 71 patients with systemic sclerosis and 38 healthy controls. Social appearance anxiety was assessed using the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and health-related quality of life was assessed using the Short Form-36. Disease-related variables, including modified Rodnan skin score and EUSTAR disease activity index, were recorded.
resultsPatients with systemic sclerosis had higher Social Appearance Anxiety Scale scores than healthy controls [32.0 (21.0-51.5) vs. 19.0 (16.25-34.0); p = 0.003]. Anxiety and depressive symptom scores were also higher in patients with systemic sclerosis. In systemic sclerosis, social appearance anxiety correlated positively with anxiety symptoms and negatively with several health-related quality-of-life domains. No significant association was observed between social appearance anxiety and modified Rodnan skin score or EUSTAR disease activity index.
conclusionsSocial appearance anxiety is increased in systemic sclerosis and is associated with psychological distress and impaired health-related quality of life rather than conventional disease activity or skin thickness measures. These findings support incorporating psychosocial assessment into routine systemic sclerosis care. Key Points • Patients with systemic sclerosis had higher social appearance anxiety than healthy controls. • Social appearance anxiety was associated with anxiety symptoms and impaired health-related quality of life. • Social appearance anxiety was not significantly associated with skin thickness or EUSTAR disease activity. • Psychosocial assessment may provide clinically relevant information in systemic sclerosis care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
42365561What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.