Quality of life and correlation with clinical and radiographic variables in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a retrospective case series study

Abstract

BackgroundPreviously, many studies have evaluated quality of life (QoL) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), however, none of them specifically investigated the correlation between pain-related disability measured by Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and QoL in AS patients. In addition, the correlation between global kyphosis (GK) in lateral plain radiographs and QoL in AS patients remains unclear up to now. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate QoL and correlation with clinical and radiographic variables in AS patients, especially to figure out the relationship about the pain-specific disability measured by ODI, GK and QoL.MethodsFrom January 2008 to November 2015, two hundred and forty-five consecutive patients with an average age of 36.2 ± 10.9 years (range, 17–66 years) satisfying the Modified New York Criteria for AS from a single institution were enrolled. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Global score (BAS-G) were applied to assess the disease activity, functional status, spinal mobility and overall feeling of AS patients, respectively. ODI was recorded to evaluate low back pain-related disability. QoL was evaluated by the Short Form-36 (SF-36). According to global kyphosis (GK) measured on standing lateral full-spine radiographs, the patients were divided into two groups: mild kyphotic group (GK < 70°,n = 176) and severe kyphotic group (GK ≥ 70°,n = 69).ResultsThe scores of BASDAI, BASFI, BASMI and ODI had significant negative correlations with all SF-36 subscale scores (P < 0.01). BASFI and BASMI scores of severe kyphotic group were much higher than those of mild kyphotic group, respectively (P = 0.005 and P = 0.001, respectively) and the score of physical function (PF) subscale in severe kyphotic group was significantly higher than that in mild kyphotic group (P = 0.046) as well. Notably, the scores of ODI, BASFI and BASMI were the major predictors of PF subscale score of SF-36.ConclusionsPoor QoL is significantly correlated with high disease activity, poor functional status and decreased spinal mobility in AS. GK is significantly associated with functional status, spinal mobility and QoL in AS patients. ODI, BASFI and BASMI are the major predictors of PF subscale of SF-36.

Factors related to health-related quality of life in ankylosing spondylitis, overall and stratified by sex

“…Only a few previous studies have addressed if there is a relation between radiographic changes in the spine and HRQoL in AS. A Chinese study conducted in 245 patients with AS found that patients with severe kyphosis had a significantly worse PF domain score compared to patients with milder kyphosis [10]. In a study of 962 patients with AS, Bodur et al identified weak but significant inverse correlation between the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Radiology Index (BASRI) and some of the SF-36 domains (PF, GH and MH) [29] similar to findings in a study of 100 patients with AS from Morocco [30].…”

Autoantibodies against Protein Phosphatase Magnesium-Dependent 1A as a Biomarker for Predicting Radiographic Progression in Ankylosing Spondylitis Treated with Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor Agents

“…Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is chronic inflammatory arthritis characterized by ankylosis of the spine and sacroiliac joint [1]. Spinal ankylosis in AS causes functional disability, resulting in a socioeconomic loss at a young age [2]. Recently, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors have been considered as an effective treatment for AS; however, despite their wide use, it remains uncertain whether TNF inhibitors can prevent spinal progression [3,4].…”

Effects of WeChat-based Educational Intervention on Depression and Quality of Life in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis: A Randomized Controlled Trail

“…Each domension is scored ranging from 0 to 100, higher scores indicating better QoL [4]. This scale has been translated into different language versions and validated in patients with AS [4,27]. In this study, the Cronbachs' a of total score was 0.87, and the Cronbachs' a of each domension ranged from 0.777 to 0.915.…”