ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2021
Central sensitization, illness perception and obesity should be considered when interpreting disease activity in axial spondyloarthritis.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Decoding pain in axial spondyloarthritis: Mechanisms, management, and future directions.Best practice & research. Clinical rheumatology · 2026Review
- Sex Differences in Disease Activity Measures in Axial Spondyloarthritis and Their Association with Concomitant Fibromyalgia: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Analysis of a Saudi Cohort.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Challenges in diagnosing and monitoring radiographic and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis in daily clinical practice.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Central Sensitization in Spondyloarthritis: Implications for Personalized Medicine.Journal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Inflammation and pain as interconnected targets in axial spondyloarthritis.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Review
- Evaluation of kinesiophobia, central sensitization, and related factors in patients with gout: a cross-sectional study.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- Multidimensional contributors to disease burden in axial spondyloarthritis: role of central sensitization, catastrophizing and sleep disturbance.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Pain catastrophizing and its domains significantly impact rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.Scientific reports · 2025Observational
- Evaluation of the presence of neuropathic pain and/or central sensitization in patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis followed at a tertiary hospital.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2025Observational
- Exploring the role of diet quality and adiposity in the pain experience: a mediation analysis.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Interrelationships of disease activity, central sensitization, psychosocial and lifestyle factors in axial spondyloarthritis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Effect of depressive symptoms on treatment response in patients with axSpA: data from the RABBIT-SpA register.RMD open · 2025Observational
- Central Sensitization and Its Role in Persistent Pain Among Spondyloarthritis Patients on Biological Treatments.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- The Role of Central Sensitization in Autoimmune Connective Tissue Diseases: A Comparative Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2025Article
- Review
- Do the Activity Indices Used in Axial Spondyloarthritis Capture the Relationships Between Obesity, Smoking and Disease Activity in the Same Way?Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Value of the central sensitisation inventory in patients with axial spondyloarthritis.RMD open · 2024Article
- Pain catastrophizing negatively impacts drug retention rate in patients with Psoriatic Arthritis and axial Spondyloarthritis: results from a 2-years perspective multicenter GIRRCS (Gruppo Italiano di Ricerca in Reumatologia Clinica) study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2024Observational
- Mucosal signatures of pathogenic T cells in HLA-B*27+ anterior uveitis and axial spondyloarthritis.JCI insight · 2024Article
- Central sensitization significantly deteriorates functionality and the interpretation of self-reported disease activity in primary Sjögren's syndrome.Clinical rheumatology · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesMany patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) report persistent pain even when treated with anti-inflammatory agents. Our aim was to explore the presence of central sensitization (CS) and different types of illness perceptions in patients with axSpA, and to assess their associations with disease activity assessments.
methodsConsecutive outpatients from the Groningen Leeuwarden Axial Spondyloarthritis (GLAS) cohort were included. Besides standardized assessments, patients filled out the Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI), Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Univariable and multivariable linear regression analyses were used to investigate the association between questionnaire scores, patient characteristics and disease activity assessments ASDASCRP, BASDAI and CRP.
resultsWe included 182 patients with a mean symptom duration of 21.6 years. Mean ASDASCRP was 2.1, mean BASDAI 3.9, and median CRP 2.9. Mean CSI score was 37.8 (scale 0-100) and 45% of patients scored ≥40, indicating a high probability of CS. CSI score, IPQ-R domain identity (number of symptoms the patient attributes to their illness), and IPQ-R domain treatment control (perceived treatment efficacy), and obesity were significantly and independently associated with both ASDASCRP and BASDAI, explaining a substantial proportion of variation in these disease activity scores (R2=0.35 and R2=0.47, respectively). Only obesity was also independently associated with CRP.
conclusionCS may be common in patients with long-term axSpA. CS, as well as specific illness perceptions and obesity were all independently associated with the widely used (partially) patient-reported disease activity assessments ASDASCRP and BASDAI. Treating physicians should take this into account in the follow-up and treatment of their patients.
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