Diagnosing early spondyloarthritis in Spain: the ESPeranza program

Spondyloarthropathies are a group of diseases with an important social and health-care impact. Their prevalence is not low, affecting around 1,9% of the general population and represents around 13% of patients of the Spanish Rheumatology departments, according to the National Spondyloarthropathy Validation Study. On the other hand, it is estimated that ankylosing spondylitis, the paradigmatic disease in the group, leads to a mean yearly loss of work of 62 days per patient, leading 20% of patients to change professions and another 20% to a situation of permanent incapacity. However, up to this moment it has not received the same degree of attention as other rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis or osteoporosis. (C) 2009 Elsevier Espana, S.L. All rights reserved.