Characteristics of Ankylosing spondylitis patients in Kurdistan region of Iraq

Authors

  • Mahir Sadullah Saeed Physician, Specialized Centre of Rheumatic Diseases and Medical Rehabilitation, Duhok General Directorate of Health, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Duhok, Iraq https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3964-0422
  • Mohammed Tahir Rasool Rheumatologist, FRCP, Assistant Professor of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Duhok, Kurdistan Region, Duhok, Iraq

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v13i11.47137

Keywords:

Ankylosing spondylitis; Musculoskeletal symptoms; Disease severity; Disease function

Abstract

Background: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) affects predominantly the axial skeleton and causes inflammatory low back pain.

Aims and Objectives: We aimed to explore clinical characteristics of AS patients in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the patients who attended a rheumatic disease center in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in 2022 were screened for the diagnosis of AS.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 38.31 (17–65 years old) and most were Middle age and males (93.07%; male: female ratio: 13.43:1). The patients were normal sleepers (61.39%), short sleepers (28.71%), and long sleepers (9.90%). The patients were most physically active through walking. The age at symptoms onset of patients was 22.61 years (7–56 years). The patient’s disease was diagnosed at the mean value of 29.56 years. The median gap of diagnosis was 5 years. The patients had different characteristics; peripheral arthritis (56.44%), sacroiliitis (bilateral: 91.09%), tenosynovitis (14.85%), plantar fasciitis (45.54%), achilles tendinitis (17.82%), anterior uveitis (23.76%), positive human leukocyte antigen-B27 (88.40%), and spinal involvement (94.06%). Most patients received treatment (89.11%) including received biological treatment (53.47%) followed by multiple treatments (29.70%) and non-steroidal (4.95%) and only 0.99% (one patient) used physical therapy. The patients with normal sleepers and physically active and without extra-articular manifestations of AS had better disease severity and function compared to short sleepers and nonphysically active.

Conclusion: A AS patients have escalating disease severity and function patients in this region. The disease severity and function were associated with healthy lifestyles such as sleeping and physical activity.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.
Abstract
190
PDF
176

Downloads

Published

2022-11-01

How to Cite

Mahir Sadullah Saeed, & Rasool, M. T. . (2022). Characteristics of Ankylosing spondylitis patients in Kurdistan region of Iraq. Asian Journal of Medical Sciences, 13(11), 163–171. https://doi.org/10.3126/ajms.v13i11.47137

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 11 (2022)

Section

Original Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The journal holds copyright and publishes the work under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC license that permits use, distribution and reprduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. The journal should be recognised as the original publisher of this work.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).