EMEL GÜLER, ALPER DOĞANCI, ESRA GÜLTÜRK, HANZADE AYBUKE UNAL, SAMİ HİZMETLİ
Southern Clinics of Istanbul Eurasia - 2022;33(3):231-236
INTRODUCTION: Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease. Its main symptom is inflammatory low back pain. The presence of central sensitization (CS) in chronic pain conditions has been emphasized in several studies, but there are insufficient studies on AS patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between disease activity in AS, the type of pain, and the presence of CS. METHODS: Patients’ age, gender, body mass index, disease duration, drugs used in the treatment, pain type and severity, presence of CS disease activity, and quality of life were evaluated. Results: Evaluation was made on 80 patients, comprising 49 (61.2%) females and 31 (38.8%) males. A statistical significance was found between the presence of CS and high scores of painDETECT, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, Numerical Rating Scale for pain, Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index-sedimentation, Ankylosing Spondylitis Quality of Life Index, low Short-Form-12 (SF-12) physical score (***p<0.001), low SF-12 mental score (**p<0.01), and increased age (*p<0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that as CS was present in the majority of AS patients, multidirectional evaluation of these patients is required, and in treatment approaches, evaluation is important in respect of treatments for CS in addition to the suppression of inflammation.
