Association Between Diagnostic Delay and Economic and Clinical Burden in Axial Spondyloarthritis
Introduction: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with considerable pain and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for affected patients. Despite the documented increase in healthcare resource utilization (HRU) related to axSpA, few studies have e...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2025 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona |
| Repositorio: | Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:ddd.uab.cat:319530 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://ddd.uab.cat/record/319530 https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1007/s40744-024-00742-6 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Axial spondyloarthritis Costs Diagnostic delay Disease activity Healthcare resource utilization |
| Sumario: | Introduction: Axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) is a chronic inflammatory condition associated with considerable pain and impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for affected patients. Despite the documented increase in healthcare resource utilization (HRU) related to axSpA, few studies have explored the impact of diagnostic delays on these outcomes. This study sought to determine the association between diagnostic delay of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and costs in the 3 years after diagnosis. Methods: This is a retrospective, observational study based on routine follow-up data from adult patients with confirmed axSpA diagnosis in three tertiary Spanish hospitals. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected at diagnosis. Direct and indirect healthcare costs were estimated from healthcare resource use (HRU) and productivity losses. The correlation between diagnostic delay and total healthcare costs was analyzed. Results: Eighty-two patients (62.2% men; mean age: 39.3 years at diagnosis) were included, mostly with radiographic axSpA (r-axSpA) (67.1%). The mean (standard deviation, SD) diagnostic delay was 10.1 (9.3) years, with a median (interquartile range, IQR) of 5.4 (2.3, 17.2) years. The mean total healthcare cost per patient accumulated over 3 years was €25,812.6 (direct: €16,384.7; indirect: €9427.9). Patients with longer diagnostic delay (. |
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