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<bold>Background.</bold> A large number of comparative studies have been conducted for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), including disease burden, treatment modalities and patient characteristics. The aim of this study was to compare physician related diagnostic delay time between patients with AS and nr-axSpA.
<bold>Methods.</bold> In our retrospective study we included 266 patients with axSpA. Patients were classified into two subgroups, AS and nr-axSpA. The time from back pain onset until diagnosis of axSpA was defined as the diagnostic delay. The first specialist referred to and the first diagnosis for each patient was noted in detail. Patient characteristics, clinical manifestations and laboratory and imaging results at diagnosis were also compared between subgroups.
<bold>Results.</bold> The diagnostic delay time was significantly longer for AS patients [6 ± 8.14 years vs 1.62 ± 2.54 years]. 40.9% of all patients were initially consulted by specialists in physical therapy and rehabilitation, followed by 29.7% consulted by a neurosurgeon and 19.9% by a rheumatologist. The most common initial diagnosis was fibromyalgia, 52.6% (140), followed by ankylosing spondylitis, 28.9% (77), and lumbar disc hernia, 12.7% (34).
<bold>Conclusion.</bold> The vast majority of patients were initially evaluated by healthcare providers other than rheumatologists and mostly diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Efforts to increase awareness and to educate first healthcare providers may shorten the diagnostic delay time.
</abstract>

Background. A large number of comparative studies have been conducted for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA), including disease burden, treatment modalities and patient characteristics. The aim of this study was to compare physician related diagnostic delay time between patients with AS and nr-axSpA.
Methods. In our retrospective study we included 266 patients with axSpA. Patients were classified into two subgroups, AS and nr-axSpA. The time from back pain onset until diagnosis of axSpA was defined as the diagnostic delay. The first specialist referred to and the first diagnosis for each patient was noted in detail. Patient characteristics, clinical manifestations and laboratory and imaging results at diagnosis were also compared between subgroups.
Results. The diagnostic delay time was significantly longer for AS patients [6 ± 8.14 years vs 1.62 ± 2.54 years]. 40.9% of all patients were initially consulted by specialists in physical therapy and rehabilitation, followed by 29.7% consulted by a neurosurgeon and 19.9% by a rheumatologist. The most common initial diagnosis was fibromyalgia, 52.6% (140), followed by ankylosing spondylitis, 28.9% (77), and lumbar disc hernia, 12.7% (34).
Conclusion. The vast majority of patients were initially evaluated by healthcare providers other than rheumatologists and mostly diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Efforts to increase awareness and to educate first healthcare providers may shorten the diagnostic delay time.

A single center experience: physician related diagnostic delay and demographic and clinical differences between patients with ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis

Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine

Romanian Journal of Internal Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Background. A large number of comparative studies have been conducted for ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA),...

A single center experience: physician related diagnostic delay and demographic and clinical differences between patients with ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis

Published Online: Aug 26, 2021

Page range: 278 - 285

Received: Aug 22, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjim-2021-0004

Keywords
ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, fibromyalgia, differential diagnosis

© 2021 Firdevs Ulutaş et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A single center experience: physician related diagnostic delay and demographic and clinical differences between patients with ankylosing spondylitis and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis

Published Online: Aug 26, 2021

Page range: 278 - 285

Received: Aug 22, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/rjim-2021-0004

Keywordsankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, fibromyalgia, differential diagnosis

© 2021 Firdevs Ulutaş et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
ankylosing spondylitis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, fibromyalgia, differential diagnosis