Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) enthesitis index in Turkish patients with ankylosing spondylitis: relationship with disease activity and quality of life.

AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) enthesitis index and disease activity and health-related quality of life in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).

METHODS: Eighty-six AS patients not receiving antitumour necrosis factor (TNF) therapy were included in the study. Spinal pain by visual analogue scale (pain VAS rest and activity), disease activity by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), functional capacity by Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI), enthesitis severity by SPARCC index, quality of life by Short Form-36 (SF-36), and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) were assessed in patients. In the laboratory evaluations, the erythrocyte sedimentation rates and serum C-reactive protein levels of the patients were determined.

RESULTS: All participants were aged between 18 and 65 years, with a mean age of 36.9 ± 11.13 years. The most frequent region of enthesitis was Achilles tendon insertion into calcaneum (55.8%). Pain VAS rest and activity, BASFI and all parameters of SF-36 were significantly different in AS patients with and without enthesitis. SPARCC index was significantly correlated with pain VAS activity (P < 0.05), pain VAS rest, BASDAI, BASFI and all parameters of SF-36 (P < 0.001). There were no correlations between SPARCC index and BASMI, disease duration and laboratory parameters (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION: The clinical assessment of enthesitis in AS is an important outcome measure, and enthesitis indexes such as SPARCC enthesitis index can be valuable tools in the evaluation of disease activity in AS patients not receiving anti-TNF therapy.