← Questions/GETTING A DIAGNOSIS
Does being diagnosed early actually change anything?
The short answer
For a long time the honest answer was that early and late-diagnosed patients responded to treatment about the same in the short term. A Swiss registry that followed people for over a decade has now shown that those diagnosed within two years of symptoms developed less spinal fusion on X-ray than those diagnosed later. That is the strongest argument yet for pushing for an answer rather than waiting.
2 papers behind this answer, best first
Clicking through to a study? How to read a paper is the ten-minute version.
Early diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis is associated with less long-term spinal structural damage: a longitudinal analysis of the Swiss Clinical Quality Management in rheumatic diseases registry.
Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.)
In a Swiss registry of 376 people followed for an average of 11 years, those diagnosed within two years of their first back symptoms developed less spinal fusion on X-ray than those diagnosed later, even though short-term treatment responses were the same. Getting a diagnosis early appears to protect the spine over decades, which is the strongest argument yet against the long diagnostic delays most people with AS experience.
Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network Recommendations for the Referral of Adults With Chronic Back Pain and Suspected Axial Spondyloarthritis to a Rheumatologist.
ACR open rheumatology
US experts and patients built a points-based referral rule for adults under 45 with chronic back pain: features such as uveitis, raised inflammatory markers, a family history, HLA-B27, inflammatory bowel disease, imaging signs, psoriasis and a good response to anti-inflammatories each add to a score, and three or more points means see a rheumatologist. It targets a diagnostic delay that in the US runs up to 14 years.
Plain-language guides on this from patient organisations
Reviewed sources written for patients. They cover the “what do I do” part that research papers can’t.
- NHS: How AS is diagnosed ↗
NHS (UK)