The following is a summary of “Disease activity and widespread pain are main contributors to patient-reported global health in axial spondyloarthritis: an analysis of 6064 patients,” published in the April 2024 issue of Rheumatology by Drouet et al.

Global health (GH) and health-related quality of life are crucial for patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA).

Researchers conducted a retrospective study assessing the relative importance of disease-related factors (including disease activity) and patient-related factors in explaining GH in axSpA. 

They used post hoc-analysis on four patients meeting ASAS criteria for axSpA. GH was evaluated using the ASAS Health Index (ASAS-HI) or the EuroQoL-5D-3L (EQ-5D). Disease-related factors included disease activity, diagnostic delay, bamboo spine, and treatment, while non-disease-related factors included sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, and widespread chronic pain. Multivariable logistic and linear regressions were used to identify independent determinants of GH.

The results studied 6,064 patients with a mean age of 38.9 – 45.8 years (51-68% males). GH was generally moderate, and the median ASAS-HI ranged between 5.0 and 7.0 (OR 2.60 and 4.48). Disease activity and chronic widespread pain (OR 2.19-8.39) were key determinants of GH, along with comorbidities and sociodemographic characteristics. However, only 47-57% of the variability in GH could be explained by the models, with disease activity ( partial variance 16-26%) and chronic widespread pain (partial variance 12-15%) being the most significant contributors.

Investigators concluded that despite including various disease and non-disease-related variables, the variability in GH in patients with axSpA needs to be more adequately explained. Disease activity and chronic widespread pain emerged as the most relevant determinants, underscoring their importance in shared decision-making.

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00296-024-05576-7