Impact of an Awareness Campaign for the Detection of Axial Spondyloarthritis in Patients with Inflammatory Back Pain

The objectives of the study are to identify patients with Inflammatory Back Pain (IBP) through an awareness campaign to the general population and to assess the impact of different advertising media. Methods: A four-week awareness campaign was presented through various communication media venues, raising awareness about AxSpA, and encouraging patients with IBP to contact us via e-mail or telephone call. If they met the inclusion criteria they were given an appointment. If the patient did not meet the diagnostic criteria at the first appointment, HLA-B27 and magnetic resonance imaging were performed. Results: A total of 900 patients replied (449 by telephone and 451 by e-mail). After excluding ineffective calls and emails, 587 patients were included (226from phone calls and 361from e-mails); 61.5% of this patients replied after seen a TV advertisement. Following the initial questionnaire, 70% of the patients from the call center and 7.3% via email met the inclusion criteria. 157 appointments were given, and only 80 (50.9%) attended. After clinical evaluation, 42 of the 80 patients (52.5%) definitively met the inclusion criteria. After clinical evaluations, 9 patients were classified as AxSpa. When we compared those with and without an AxSpA diagnosis, axial morning stiffness and higher enthesis score were significantly more frequent in the AxSpA group. Conclusion: The frequency of AxSpA in patients with IBP in our population was similar to that reported in literature. Television was clearly the best venue of communication, and the call center was the most effective way to contact potential patients. Keywords: Axial Spondyloarthritis; Low Back Pain; Awareness; Early detection; Ankylosing Spondyliti