The Journey to Diagnose Spondyloarthritis in Patients From Riyadh: A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction Ankylosing spondylitis, now frequently referred to as spondyloarthritis (SpA), is a chronic inflammatory disease causing axial arthritis and inflammatory lower back pain resulting in the eventual impairment of spinal mobility. Moreover, its systemic complications include stiffness and inflexibility, restriction of lung capacity and function, eye inflammation, compression spinal fractures, and heart problems. Hence, early diagnosis and intervention play a key role in preventing acute complications and improving the quality of life. Objective We aimed to estimate the average duration of diagnosis, the average number of doctors visited, and the association between the specialty of the first physician and the length of SpA diagnosis delay. Methods A cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted from November 2019 to April 2020 with patients from King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The patients were 18 years and older and diagnosed with SpA. Call interviews were conducted and patients' medical charts were reviewed. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences statistical software, version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Result The total sample was 101 patients: 59 (58.4%) males and 42 (41.6%) females. The average duration from the onset of symptoms until seeking medical advice (lag 1) and from seeking medical advice until the definite diagnosis (lag 2) was 24.74 +/- 48.13 and 16.16 +/- 34.62 months, respectively. The average number of doctors visited between the first medical encounter and the final diagnosis was 3.56 +/- 5.3. Patients who consulted rheumatologists as the first medical encounter showed less delay in diagnosis compared to patients who sought non-rheumatologists, such as orthopedists, emergency physicians, and general physicians (11.81 +/- 33.35 months vs. 26.63 +/- 44.28, 26.96 +/- 44.88, and 44.33 +/- 65.75 months, respectively). Conclusion Patients with SpA who were not seen by rheumatologists took a longer period till the final diagnosis than those who visited rheumatologists earlier in the course of the disease. Therefore, more studies are required to define the exact factors leading to the delay.