Background:
Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease
leading to functional limitations and subsequently impaired quality of life (QoL). Despite the
fact that QoL was recognized as a significant perception, it was excluded from the core domains
(defined by the Assessment of Spondyloarthritis International Society), because of ambiguity of
measurement choice.
Aim:
To assess QoL in patients with AS using a generic; Short Form-36 (SF-36) and a diseasespecific;
Ankylosing Spondylitis quality of life (ASQoL) instruments and to explore its relationship
to the clinical characteristics, disease activity, functional status, and radiographic severity.
Methods:
A total of 47 AS patients who fulfilled modified New York criteria were included. Disease
activity, functional status, spinal mobility, and radiographic severity were assessed by Bath AS
Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI), Bath AS Metrology Index
(BASMI) and Bath AS Radiology Index (BASRI) respectively. SF-36 and ASQoL instruments
evaluated Qol.
Results:
Physical health was more affected especially in patients with peripheral arthritis by SF-36
(p=0.008) and ASQoL (p=0.022) scores. Both SF-36 total and ASQoL scores correlated significantly
with BASDAI (r = -0.329, p = 0.024 and r = 0.420, p = 0.003), BASFI (r = -0.399, p = 0.005
and r = 0.513, p=0.001) and BASMI (r = -0.382, p = 0.008 and r = 0.482, p= 0.001) respectively.
Conclusion:
QoL was impaired in AS patients with highest impact on physical health especially in
association with peripheral arthritis. SF-36 and ASQol have a comparable achievement in the
evaluation of QoL in AS patients and both physical function and spinal mobility were identified as
predictors of poor QoL.
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