Despite similar clinical features and disease burden, patients with nonradiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) are less likely to receive treatment with a biologic compared with patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), according to findings of a new study presented at the 2019 American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/Association of Rheumatology Professionals (ARP) Annual Meeting.

The researchers evaluated data from a cross-sectional survey conducted with 88 rheumatologists and their consulting patients in the United States. Patients who had a physician-confirmed diagnosis of AS (n=515) or nr-axSpA (n=495) were included.

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Validated questionnaires with work disability and quality of life measures were completed by the patients, while demographics, disease status, symptoms, and medication use were reported by the physicians.

Quality of life and treatment patterns of patients with nr-axSpA and patients with AS were compared using parametric tests and nonparametric tests where appropriate.

Compared with patients with AS, a higher proportion of patients with nr-axSpA were women (46.7% vs 28.7%) and had a younger mean age (44.2 years vs 46.3 years).

Patients with nr-axSpA were less likely to be prescribed biologic therapy than patients with AS (59.6% vs 73.6%).

On average, the patients with AS experienced slightly more symptoms at diagnosis; however, more patients with nr-axSpA were reported as having enthesitis and synovitis.

Patient-reported outcomes based on a number of validated diagnostic tools were similar between the groups were similar between the groups.

“The treatment approach for nr-axSpA needs to be similar to AS,” the researchers concluded.

—Melinda Stevens

Reference:

Hunter T, Sandoval D, Booth N, Holdsworth E, Deodhar A. Comparing symptoms, treatments patterns, and quality of life of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis and ankylosing spondylitis patients: findings from a US survey [abstract 557]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019;71(suppl 10). Presented at: 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting; November 8-13, 2019; Atlanta, GA. https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/comparing-symptoms-treatments-patterns-and-quality-of-life-of-non-radiographic-axial-spondyloarthritis-and-ankylosing-spondylitis-patients-findings-from-a-us-survey/. Accessed November 8, 2019.