Specific features of axial spondyloarthritis, including ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, in persons of different genders

Abstract

The increasing number of women with ankylosing spondyloarthritis (SpA) makes it relevant to study the specific features of this disease in persons of different genders.

Objective: to study the indicators of activity and functional status in male and female patients with axial SpA.

Subjects and methods. The study enrolled 91 patients (43 women and 48 men) with axial SpA admitted to the Rheumatology Unit of the Saratov Regional Clinical Hospital in 2013. The age of the women and men was 41.63±12.04 and 41.94±12.76 years, respectively. All the patients fulfilled the ASAS criteria for axial SpA. 60.43% of the patients had ankylosing spondylitis (AS) meeting the modified New York criteria; 26.37% had psoriatic arthritis (PsA) according to the CASPAR criteria (only patients with axial involvement were included in the study and those with peripheral arthritis were excluded); 9.89% had undifferentiated axial SpA. Age at symptom onset, disease duration, and age at diagnosis of axial SpA were taken into account. The activity of axial SpA (ASDAS, BASDAI, highsensitivity C-reactive protein) and the mobility of the axial skeleton (BASMI and its components) were investigated in patients of different genders.

Results. The study has established that the women are hospitalized with diagnosed axial SpA as often as the men. The indicators of activity and axial skeleton mobility are similar in the male and female patients with axial SpA as a whole and with a disease history of less than 10 years. Having a disease history of more than 10 years, the women preserve greater mobility of the lumbar and cervical spine than do the men with the similar disease activity.