ASAS Health Index a useful tool for evaluating spondyloarthritis in daily practice

A recent study has demonstrated the effectiveness of the Assessment of SpondyloArthritis international Society Health Index (ASAS HI) in the evaluation of spondyloarthritis (SpA) in daily practice.

“Given its good clinimetric properties, it could be used as an additional instrument to evaluate SpA,” the investigators said.

A total of 111 consecutive patients with SpA were included in this cross-sectional study, in which the measurement properties of ASAS HI were tested against conventional assessment measures. The investigators assessed convergent validity using Spearman rho correlations and analysed discriminative validity through receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves. ASAS HI items associated with active disease were identified by performing a multivariate regression analysis.

The average ASAS HI was 5.4±3.8 (interquartile range, 3–8). This tool demonstrated high convergent validity against other measures of SpA (rho ≥0.70; p<0.0005). An ASAS HI score of >6 (area under the ROC curve 0.86, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.78–0.92, positive likelihood ratio, 7.3, 95 percent CI, 3.1–17.1; p<0.0001) was the optimal criteria for detecting high/very high disease activity Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) categories.

The following ASAS HI items significantly correlated with Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index active disease: “I often get frustrated” (odds ratio [OR], 9.2, 95 percent CI, 1.2–69.4; p=0.032) and “I sleep badly at night” (OR, 7.7, 95 percent CI, 1.4–41.6; p=0.018). For ASDAS, the item correlate was “Pain sometimes disrupts my normal activities” (OR, 8.7, 95 percent CI, 1.7–45.2; p=0.010).

ASAS HI is a useful and simple instrument designed to assess disease impact in SpA.