gms | German Medical Science

Introduction: Morning stiffness is found in appr. 75% of patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) and has a major impact on patient’s quality of life [1], [2]. There are limited data on patient’s characteristics associated with morning stiffness in AS patients treated in real life settings. This analysis investigates patient’s characteristics associated with severity of morning stiffness in patients with AS in routine care.

Methods: INVISIBLE was a multinational, cross-sectional, non-interventional study conducted in Germany, Austria and Belgium. Adult patients with confirmed diagnosis of AS for at least 6 months and ongoing treatment with Tumour Necrosis Factor inhibitors (TNFi) and/or Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for at least 12 weeks before enrolment were included. Primary data were collected at a single visit using standard disease activity measures, e.g. Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI), quality of life measures and other assessments. Medical history data were collected from available patient files. Severity of morning stiffness was analysed using mean BASDAI score for questions 5 and 6. On the basis of question 6 labelling, severity of morning stiffness was categorized as follows: mild = ≤30 minutes; moderate = >30 - ≤60 minutes; severe = >60 minutes duration of morning stiffness.

Results: 560 adult AS patients from the German cohort were included in this analysis. 54% of patients reported mild, 26% moderate and 20% severe morning stiffness according to BASDAI. 43% of patients currently in treatment with NSAID and/or TNFi reported moderate to severe morning stiffness. There was no difference between groups of severity of morning stiffness regarding gender, age at AS diagnosis, duration of symptoms, time since AS diagnosis or smoking status. Patients with a higher severity of morning stiffness are older, showed higher disease activity scores and achieved unfavourable values in quality-of-life measures. (Table 1 [Tab. 1]).

Conclusion: Results from the non-interventional study INVISIBLE showed that in this cohort a substantial number of patients have a higher severity of morning stiffness despite current treatment with NSAID and/or TNFi. This indicates that some patients are not optimally controlled in routine care.

Disclosures: Jan Brandt-Jürgens consultant of: Abbvie, Affibody, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Medac, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Aventis, UC. Niklas Baerlecken Speakers bureau: Novartis, Pfizer, Abbvie, Fresenius, Sanofi and BMS, Biogen, AstraZeneca. Angela Kill Employee of: Novartis. Herbert Kellner Speakers bureau of: Novartis.