OBJECTIVE: To evaluate 2 referral strategies for axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) in patients with chronic low back pain at the primary care level. METHODS:Referral physicians (n = 259) were randomly assigned to either Strategy 1 or Strategy 2 in order to refer patients with chronic back pain (duration > 3 months), age at onset of back pain < 45 years, and no diagnosis of axial SpA, to a cooperating rheumatologist (n = 43). According to Strategy 1, suitable patients were referred if at least 1 of the following screening criteria was present: inflammatory back pain, HLA-B27, or sacroiliitis detected by imaging. According to Strategy 2, patients were referred if 2 out of 5 criteria were positive: the same 3 criteria from Strategy 1 and additionally a positive family history of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or a good treatment response to nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. The final diagnosis of the rheumatologist was used as the "gold standard." RESULTS:In total, 560 consecutively referred patients were included in the analysis. Among 318 patients referred by Strategy 1, 41.8% (95% CI 36.5%-47.3%) were diagnosed with definite axial SpA. Among 242 patients referred by the second strategy, definite axial SpA was diagnosed in 36.8% (95% CI 31.0%-43.0%) of the cases. CONCLUSION: Both referral strategies demonstrated comparable performance in identification of patients with axial SpA. Strategy 1 might be preferred as an easy and reliable screening method for axial SpA at the primary care level.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate 2 referral strategies for axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) in patients with chronic low back pain at the primary care level. METHODS: Referral physicians (n = 259) were randomly assigned to either Strategy 1 or Strategy 2 in order to refer patients with chronic back pain (duration > 3 months), age at onset of back pain < 45 years, and no diagnosis of axial SpA, to a cooperating rheumatologist (n = 43). According to Strategy 1, suitable patients were referred if at least 1 of the following screening criteria was present: inflammatory back pain, HLA-B27, or sacroiliitis detected by imaging. According to Strategy 2, patients were referred if 2 out of 5 criteria were positive: the same 3 criteria from Strategy 1 and additionally a positive family history of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) or a good treatment response to nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. The final diagnosis of the rheumatologist was used as the "gold standard." RESULTS: In total, 560 consecutively referred patients were included in the analysis. Among 318 patients referred by Strategy 1, 41.8% (95% CI 36.5%-47.3%) were diagnosed with definite axial SpA. Among 242 patients referred by the second strategy, definite axial SpA was diagnosed in 36.8% (95% CI 31.0%-43.0%) of the cases. CONCLUSION: Both referral strategies demonstrated comparable performance in identification of patients with axial SpA. Strategy 1 might be preferred as an easy and reliable screening method for axial SpA at the primary care level.
Authors: U Kiltz; M Rudwaleit; J Sieper; D Krause; A Heiligenhaus; U Pleyer; J-F Chenot; A Stallmach; S Jaresch; U Oberschelp; E Schneider; B Swoboda; H Böhm; K-G Hermann; W-H Böhncke; J Braun Journal: Z Rheumatol Date: 2014-09 Impact factor: 1.372
Authors: Jeffrey R Curtis; Leslie R Harrold; Maryam M Asgari; Atul Deodhar; Craig Salman; Joel M Gelfand; Jashin J Wu; Lisa J Herrinton Journal: Perm J Date: 2016-07-29