TABLE 1.
Sociodemographic, diagnostic, and clinical characteristics of the analysed population.
| Variables | Mean ± SD or n (%) |
|---|---|
| Sociodemographic | |
| Age, years | 44.3 ± 13.9 |
| Sex, female | 342 (63.1) |
| Education level | |
| No school completed | 1 (0.2) |
| Primary school | 5 (0.9) |
| High school | 97 (17.9) |
| University/College | 439 (81.0) |
| Residence area, n = 536 | |
| Urban | 500 (93.3) |
| Rural | 36 (6.7) |
| Distance from rheumatologist | |
| Under 25 km | 291 (53.7) |
| 25–50 km | 127 (23.4) |
| 50–100 km | 55 (10.1) |
| 100–150 km | 26 (4.8) |
| Over 150 km | 43 (7.9) |
| Patient organisation membership | 227 (41.9) |
| Body mass index (kg/m2), n = 539 | 27.8 ± 10.3 |
| Work life | |
| Job status, employed | 285 (52.6) |
| Occupation, n = 285 | |
| Manual worker | 66 (23.2) |
| Non‐manual worker | 219 (76.8) |
| Work‐related issues | 439 (81.0) |
| Lifestyle habits | |
| Current smoker | 110 (20.3) |
| Diagnostic journey | |
| Age at onset of first symptoms, years | 26.4 ± 12.0 |
| Age at diagnosis, years | 35.0 ± 12.7 |
| Number of HCPs seen prior to diagnosis a | 2.9 ± 1.6 |
| Number of tests undertaken prior to diagnosis b | 6.4 ± 10.5 |
| Number of MRI scans prior to diagnosis, n = 363 | 1.7 ± 1.5 |
| Diagnostic delay, years c | 9.0 ± 10.5 |
| Disease duration since symptom onset, years | 17.8 ± 13.7 |
| HLA‐B27 positivity, n = 322 | 225 (69.9) |
| Diagnosed by rheumatologist | |
| Yes | 370 (68.3) |
| No d | 172 (31.7) |
| Treatment | |
| NSAID | 449 (82.8) |
| DMARD | 197 (36.3) |
| Biologic | 318 (58.7) |
| Psychological health | |
| GHQ‐12 (0–12) e | 4.0 ± 3.8 |
| Proportion with GHQ‐12 ≥ 3 e | 288 (53.1) |
| Comorbidities and extra‐articular manifestations | |
| History of inflammatory bowel disease | 90 (16.6) |
| History of acute anterior uveitis | 161 (29.7) |
| Disease outcomes | |
| BASDAI (0–10) f | 5.3 ± 2.1 |
| Proportion with BASDAI ≥ 4 | 391 (72.1) |
| Functional limitation index (0–54) g | 17.8 ± 11.5 |
| Spinal stiffness index (3–12) | 7.4 ± 2.2 |
Note: N = 542 unless otherwise specified.
Abbreviations: BASDAI, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index; CT, computed tomography; DMARD, disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug; GHQ‐12, 12‐item General Health Questionnaire; HCPs, healthcare professionals; HLA‐B27, human leucocyte antigen B27; IMAS, International Map of Axial Spondyloarthritis; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; NSAID, nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drug.
HCPs included GP; Rheumatologist; Orthopaedic specialist; Physiotherapist; Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) specialist, osteopath, chiropractor, and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner.
Tests included HLA‐B27, CT, MRI, and ultrasound scans, X‐rays, and radionuclide scintigraphy.
The diagnostic delay variable (calculated as the difference between age at diagnosis and age at first symptoms) was ≥ 0 years in 524 participants.
No diagnosed by rheumatologist included GP; Orthopaedic specialist; Physiotherapist; Internal Medicine Specialist; and, Do not know.
GHQ‐12, which evaluates mental health, was transformed into a dichotomous score (0‐0‐1‐1) to eliminate bias resulting from the tendency of respondents to choose answers 1 and 4 or 2 and 3 on the 4‐point Likert scale. Scores ≥ 3 indicated psychological distress (Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD), 2021).
BASDAI is a validated self‐administered questionnaire assessing disease activity between 0 (no activity) and 10 (maximum activity). (Barber et al. 2017).
The Functional Limitation Index, explicitly developed for IMAS, assessed the degree of functional limitation in 18 daily life activities. Scores ranged between 0 and 54, indicating low (0–17), medium (18–36), and high limitation (37–54). (Sanchez‐Piedra et al. 2018).