Objectives. The aim of this paper is to compare the degree of accuracy between the BASDAI and mini-BASDAI indices in assessing the activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), especially in patients without peripheral manifestations.
Materials and method. Our cross-sectional study consisted of a group of 124 patients with AS, according to the modified New York criteria. All patients offered their informed consent. All the individual characteristics of the patients were documented, both demographic and disease-related. The activity of the disease was measured using the BASDAI questionnaire, from which we calculated the mini-BASDAI by eliminating the questions about peripheral arthritis and entesitis. The functional impairment of mobility in the spine and sacro-iliac joints was measured by the Schober index, lateral spinal flexion, occiput-wall, menton-sternum and finger-ground index.
Results. The mean age of the patients was 43.43 +/− 13.27 years, mean height 174.3 +/− 8.46 cm, weight 78.23 +/− 14.19 kg, duration of disease in years 15.06 +/− 9.19 and number of years from initiation of biological therapy 6.42 +/− 3.08. The BASDAI score was 1.26 +/− 1.93, while the mini-BASDAI score was 1.51 +/− 2.08. In the group of patients without peripheral manifestations, both BASDAI and mini-BASDAI correlated significantly with the occiput-wall index, besides ESR, CRP, ASDAS-CRP and the Schober index.
Conclusion. Mini-BASDAI is not superior to BASDAI in evaluating patients with ankylosing spondylitis without peripheral manifestations, but it has shown a better correlation in addition to BASDAI with the indices of flexion of the cervico-dorsal spine.
