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Information For Physicians
The actual number of patients who suffer with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) but who remain undiagnosed is unknown.
The current approach to recognizing whether or not back pain is inflammatory is inefficient at best. That said, recent advances have been made in this regard. A study published in the January 2009 issue of Annals of Rheumatic Diseases by M Rudwaleit, R Landewe, D van der Heijde, et al, entitled, "The development of Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis (part I): classification of paper patients by expert opinion including uncertainty appraisal" indicates the primary criteria that experts use to identify inflammatory back pain.
These are:
The more of these 5 parameters that are present, the more likely the
pain is inflammatory in nature.
Early symptoms of AS include pain in the lower back and/or buttocks and a feeling of spinal stiffness when inactive. Studies suggest that an average of 7 to 12 years may pass before a diagnosis of AS is finally made. Such delays in diagnosing AS are relevant to patient outcomes since actual damage to the spine and the sacroiliac joints usually take place with the first 10 years of active disease. In many cases, the diagnosis is missed entirely. The result is that patients may simply continue to endure unnecessary pain and are not likely to seek treatment that could improve the course of their disease if received early enough. Therefore there is a great need for tools that facilitate and/or hasten the proper diagnosis of AS as needed.
In 2003, the Spondylitis Association of America, a 501 (3) c organization located in Los Angeles County, set out to develop a symptom based questionnaire to assess a chronic back pain patient's likelihood of having some of the symptoms associated with AS. The objective with regard to developing a weighted questionnaire, was to help identify new cases, greatly accelerate diagnosis and to encourage care seeking among patients with symptoms of AS.
This site and associated validated questionnaire represents the efforts and output of several years of work by the distinguished advisory board listed below.
Arthritis Care & Research
Vol. 62, No. 1, January 15, 2010, pp 19-27
DOI 10.1002/acr.20009
© 2010, American College of Rheumatology
Development and Validation of a Case
Ascertainment Tool for Ankylosing Spondylitis
MICHAEL H. WEISMAN, LAN CHEN, DANIEL O. CLEGG, JOHN C. DAVIS, JR.,
ROBERT W. DUBOIS, PAMELA E. PRETE, LAURIE M. SAVAGE, LAURA SCHAFER,
MARIA E. SUAREZ-ALMAZOR, HSING-TING YU, AND JOHN D. REVEILLE
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