AB1252 FUNCTIONAL STATUS CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH INFLAMMATORY ARTHRITIS IN REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA
Authors: Victor Cazac, Liliana Groppa, Eugen Russu, Larisa Rotaru, Lia Chislari
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2019)

<h3>Background</h3> Inflammatory joint disease is a burden to the patient and society, due to medical costs and the impact it has on the health-related quality of life. Functional status plays a significant role in quality of life impairment. <h3>Objectives</h3> To study and compare functional status changes between different inflammatory joint diseases and degenerative joint disease. <h3>Methods</h3> 1500 patients with inflammatory joint disease and 400 patients with degenerative joint disease were included in this study. In the first group, 645 (43.0%) were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, 330 (22.0%) - psoriatic arthritis, 100 (6.7%) - ankylosing spondylitis, 200 (13.3%) - axial spondyloarthritis, 135 (9.0%) - gout, 20 (1.3%) - other crystal arthritis, 45 (3.0%) - early arthritis and 25 (1.7%) with other arthritis. Physical exam with functional status was assessment were performed. Descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U tests were used to compare the study groups, as well as the subgroups within the inflammatory disease group. <h3>Results</h3> Both groups were comparable according to sex, with a predominance of female sex (χ<sup>2</sup> = 86.4 and 30.74 respectively, p&lt;0.001), and no difference in sex distribution (mean ranks of U test – 950.98 and 967.44, p = 0.524). Mean age was significantly lower in the inflammatory joint disease group (44.76 vs 60.19, p&lt;0.001). The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significantly greater mean rank in the inflammatory disease group (999.07 vs 790.66, p&lt;0.001), suggesting an overall higher functional class, and thus worse functional status in the inflammatory joint disease group. Further analysis using the same method, between subgroups in the inflammatory joint disease group, showed a higher mean rank (worse functional status) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, when compared with psoriatic arthritis (501.95 vs 460.73, p&lt;0.05) and early arthritis (352.24 and 248.83, p&lt;0.001). Psoriatic arthritis showed a higher mean rank, compared to axial spondyloarthritis (282.88 vs 254.97 p&lt;0.05) and early arthritis (193.34 vs 148.83, p&lt;0.01). Gout patients showed a higher mean rank (worse functional status), when compared to rheumatoid arthritis (453.65 vs 377.28, p&lt;0.001), psoriatic arthritis (281.33 vs 213.23, p&lt;0.001), ankylosing spondylitis (127.07 vs 105.75, p&lt;0.05), axial spondyloarthritis (184.67 vs 156.75, p&lt;0.01) and early arthritis (101.70 vs 56.89, p&lt;0.001), thus making it the subgroup associated with the poorest functional status. Ankylosing spondylitis showed a higher mean rank, when compared to psoriatic arthritis (238.13 vs 208.64, p&lt;0.05), axial spondyloarthritis (151.75 vs 129.88, p&lt;0.05) and early arthritis (81.63 vs 53.83, p&lt;0.001). Axial spondyloarthritis and other crystalline arthritis subgroups both showed higher mean ranks compared to early arthritis (130.0 vs 91.89 and 43.2 vs 28.56 respectively, p&lt;0.01), making early arthritis the subgroup associated with the best functional status. No significant differences were found when comparing rheumatoid arthritis with ankylosing spondylitis, axial spondyloarthritis and other crystalline arthritis. <h3>Conclusion</h3> This is the first study conducted on a national scale to assess the impact of inflammatory joint disease on functional status. Inflammatory joint disease involved a younger age group, when compared to degenerative joint disease, with a higher impact on the functional status. Interestingly, gout was associated with one of the poorest functional status, suggesting the need for a more aggressive approach toward this disease. After gout, a significantly impaired functional status was associated with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and axial spondyloarthritis, whereas early arthritis was generally associated with a better functional status, when compared to other inflammatory diseases. <h3> Disclosure of Interests</h3> None declared