ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2026
Time and patient journey to axial spondyloarthritis diagnosis: a retrospective study in French primary care.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesAxial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) diagnoses are often delayed, which is associated with poorer patient outcomes. To improve understanding of diagnostic delay in France, we describe the time and patient journey to axSpA diagnosis in primary care.
methodsThis retrospective consecutive case series of adult axSpA patients in France (January 2000-August 2023) analysed primary care data from The Health Improvement Network® (THIN) database. Key study outcomes were time from earliest GP-recorded back pain diagnosis to axSpA diagnosis, and number and type of back pain episodes in this period. Other variables included axSpA symptoms and comorbidities at back pain and axSpA diagnosis, and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU).
resultsOf 7313 adult patients diagnosed with axSpA eligible for inclusion, 4402 had a prior back pain diagnosis. Mean time from earliest back pain to axSpA diagnosis was 6.3 years. Mean number of back pain episodes recorded prior to axSpA diagnosis was 6.1; 17.3% of patients experienced ≥10 episodes. Lower back pain was the most common (47.4% of diagnoses). The proportion of patients experiencing >1 axSpA symptom or comorbidity increased from 1.9% or 23.7% at earliest back pain diagnosis to 8.9% or 50.7% at axSpA diagnosis, respectively. HCRU was high; mean number of primary care consultations per patient per year between earliest back pain and axSpA diagnosis was 7.0.
conclusionsPatients in France wait over 6 years for an axSpA diagnosis. This research may raise awareness of the patient journey to axSpA diagnosis and support development of a primary care flagging strategy to identify patients with suspected axSpA earlier.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.