Multimorbidity tied to more severe disease in axSpA patients

Patients with axial spondyloarthropathy (axSpA) are at greater risk of multimorbidity, which also happens to exacerbate the disease, reports a study.

Of the 734 patients (mean age, 45 years; 77 percent male) recruited from 12 centres, 403 (55 percent) were multimorbid. Patients with multimorbidity tended to be older than axSpA-only patients (50 vs 40 years; p<0.01). the most common chronic condition was obesity, which affected nearly one in four patients (27 percent). Multimorbid patients also had more severe disease than those with axSpA only.

After adjusting for confounders, multimorbidity was found to be associated with the higher scores in the following measures: Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI; ß, 0.7, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.34–1.05), Bath AS Metrology Index (BASMI; ß, 0.45, 95 percent CI, 0.09–0.80), Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI; ß, 0.5, 95 percent CI, 0.23–0.78), Health Assessment Questionnaire HAQ (ß, 0.07, 95 percent CI, 0.00–0.13), and AS Quality of Life (ASQoL; ß, 0.87, 95 percent, CI 0.28–1.46).

This cross-sectional study was carried out within the Ankylosing Spondylitis Registry of Ireland cohort. The authors conducted structured standardized assessment. Multimorbidity was defined as the presence of at least one physician-diagnosed chronic condition, except extra-articular manifestations, in addition to axSpA.

The following validated outcome measures were obtained: BASDAI, BASFI, HAQ, ASQoL and BASMI. The association between multimorbidity and disease outcomes were examined using adjusted multiple regression.

“Multimorbidity, the coexistence of two or more conditions in an individual, is associated with morbidity and mortality in the general population,” the authors noted.