Adverse mental health linked to uncontrolled symptoms of myasthenia gravis

Key takeaways:

• 12 individuals with generalized myasthenia gravis related their mental and physical health experiences.
• The disease has a significant, negative impact on mental health, which can worsen physical effects.

DENVER — Uncontrolled generalized myasthenia negatively affects patients’ mental health, which in turn negatively impacts their physical symptoms, according to a poster presentation at the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting.

“Individuals with generalized myasthenia gravis have higher rates of anxiety and depression compared with the general population,” Sindhu Ramchandren, MD, clinical development leader of neuroscience at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, told Healio in an email. “Symptoms can be unpredictable and may worsen with little warning.”

Ramchandren and fellow researchers sought to investigate factors likely to contribute to adverse mental health in individuals with generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG).

They recruited 12 individuals with self-reported gMG diagnosis from the United States-based Patient Engagement Research Council. Patients participated in at least two 3-hour, virtual focus groups in February 2023 during which they described personal experiences from symptom onset through recent treatments.

Transcripts from all participants were subsequently analyzed to identify stressors affecting mental health.

All 12 participants described stressors affecting mental health experiences, with nine describing particular challenges associated with uncontrolled symptoms of the condition.

Stressors were classified into four themes: treatments and barriers (health care providers, insurance, medications, other); activities of daily living (work, family, personal care); social support and loneliness and discrimination (body type, LGBTQ+, race/ethnicity, other). Stressors generally adversely impacted mental health, though some (eg, good relationships with health care providers) had a positive impact.

Participants additionally addressed certain disease-specific stressors that contributed to adverse mental health, which were likely, in turn, to worsen gMG-specific symptoms. Six individuals highlighted negative impacts of stress/emotions on gMG symptoms, two more revealed their experiences with depression, five others experienced anxiety and one each dealt with trauma, guilt and difficulties of controlling emotions.

“Uncontrolled [generalized myasthenia gravis] contributes to the stress and mental health burden that individuals experience,” Ramchandren told Healio.