The association of neuropathic pain and disease activity, functional level, and quality of life in patients with ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background/aim: Increased neuropathic pain (NP) symptoms are seen in rheumatologic diseases such as fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis,and rheumatoid arthritis, but no studies have demonstrated a relationship between ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and NP except for abrain imaging study. The aim of this study was to estimate the presence of NP in patients with AS and to investigate how NP was relatedto disease activity, functional status, and quality of life.Materials and methods: A total of 100 AS patients (71 males and 29 females; median age: 37 years, range: 18–71 years) were included inthe study. Pain (visual analog scale (VAS) and the painDETECT questionnaire), disease activity (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis DiseaseActivity Index (BASDAI), Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES), Patient Global Assessment of Disease Activity(PGA), and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS)), functional level (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index(BASFI)), and health-related quality of life (36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36)) were evaluated. Patients were divided into two groups.Group 1 included patients with possible or likely NP symptoms (painDETECT score of ≥13) and Group 2 included patients without NPsymptoms (painDETECT score of