SAT0316 EARLY RECOGNITION OF PATIENTS WITH AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS BY USING A PRACTICAL REFERRAL SYSTEM – EVALUATION OF THE RECENTLY PROPOSED 2-STEP STRATEGY
Authors: Xenofon Baraliakos, Styliani Tsiami, Doris Morzeck, Kirill Fedorov, Uta Kiltz, Juergen Braun
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background:</h3> Early recognition of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) in primary care (PC) is difficult due to the high prevalence of low back pain resulting in a major delay for a diagnosis of axSpA. Recently we proposed a 2-step referral strategy (1) which concentrates on patients ≤45 years with chronic back pain who are to be referred to a rheumatologist if fulfilling 2 of 3 features: buttock pain, improvement by movement, psoriasis (Step 1), or, in case of ≤1 feature, positive testing for HLA-B27 (Step 2). <h3>Objectives:</h3> To prospectively evaluate this 2-step referral strategy in PC. <h3>Methods:</h3> Consecutive patients ≤45 years who presented in PC to general practitioners or orthopedic surgeons working in PC with back pain lasting ≥2 months who had not been diagnosed before received questionnaires (Q1) relevant for the referral process. Thereafter, the PC physician asked the same questions in a separate questionnaire (Q2), including the decision on HLA-B27 testing. All patients were then referred to two experienced rheumatologists in a tertiary center who performed a complete workup including clinical, laboratory and imaging with radiographs and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations before their final diagnosis of axSpA or non-SpA (Q3). <h3>Results:</h3> A total of 320 patients (mean age 35.9±10.3 years) was recruited. The proposed referral strategy (prS) was fulfilled by 127 patients in Q1 (39.7%), 160 in Q2 (50%), 102 by both, Q1 and Q2 (31.9%), and 83 with either Q1 or Q2 (25.9%). Overall, 47 patients were diagnosed with axSpA by the rheumatologist at Q3 (14.7%), 66% of which were male, mean age 34.7±10.1 years, 70.2% HLA-B27 positive, mean CRP 0.8±1.4mg/dl, mean ASDAS 3.2±0.8, mean BASDAI 5.1±2.0. Of these, 37 patients had fulfilled the prS in Q1 or Q2 (78.7%), and 31 in both Q1 and Q2 (66%), respectively. In the latter, the HLA-B27 prevalence was significantly higher (27/31, 87.1%) as compared to patients diagnosed with axSpA at Q3 but who did not fulfill the prS in Q1 and Q2 (5/16, 31.3%) (p&lt;0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of the prS was 78.7% and 69.2% in Q1, 78.7% and 62.2% in Q2, and in both, Q1 and Q2, 66% and 74%, respectively. AxSpA patients correctly identified by the prS in Q1 and Q2, were significantly more frequently positive for HLA-B27 and CRP and fulfilled more frequently the ASAS definition of inflammatory back pain in Q3. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> This study confirms the feasibility a simple referral strategy using a combination of clinical features for identifying axSpA patients in PC without laboratory and imaging examinations. This strategy performed already well at the early patient and PC physician level just based on a symptom-based questionnaire. <h3>Reference</h3> [1] Braun Aet al, ARD2011 <h3>Acknowledgement:</h3> This work was supported by an unrestricted Grant by Novartis Pharma GmbH, Germany <h3>Disclosure of Interests:</h3> Xenofon Baraliakos Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Centocor, Chugai, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer Inc, Roche and UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Pfizer, Merck Sharp &amp; Dohme, UCB Pharma, Novartis, Consultant for: AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim, Celgene, Chugai, Janssen Biologics, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB Pharma, Galapagos, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Chugai, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB Pharma, Styliani Tsiami: None declared, Doris Morzeck: None declared, Kirill Fedorov: None declared, Uta Kiltz Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Grünenthal, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB., Consultant for: AbbVie, Chugai, Eli Lilly, Grünenthal, Janssen, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, and UCB., Juergen Braun Shareholder of: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Grant/research support from: Abbott, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Celltrion, Chugai, Johnson &amp; Johnson, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, UCB Pharma, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Grant/research support from: Abbvie (Abbott), Amgen, Baxter, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer, Celgene, Celltrion, Centocor, Chugai, Hexal, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD (Schering-Plough), Mylan, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer (Wyeth, Hospira), Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and UCB, Consultant for: Abbvie (Abbott), Amgen, Baxter, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer, Celgene, Celltrion, Centocor, Chugai, Hexal, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD (Schering-Plough), Mylan, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer (Wyeth, Hospira), Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and UCB, Consultant for: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Consultant for: Abbott, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Celltrion, Chugai, Johnson &amp; Johnson, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, UCB Pharma, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Speakers bureau: Abbvie (Abbott), Amgen, Baxter, Biogen, BMS, Boehringer, Celgene, Celltrion, Centocor, Chugai, Hexal, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD (Schering-Plough), Mylan, Mundipharma, Novartis, Pfizer (Wyeth, Hospira), Roche, Sanofi-Aventis and UCB, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, BMS, Celgene, Chugai, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB