Data to be collected for an optimal management of axial spondyloarthritis in daily practice: Proposal from evidence-based and consensual approaches.

Objective: To propose a list of variables to be collected right after the diagnosis has been made and during the follow-up of patients with axial spondyloarthritis (ax-SpA) for an optimal management in daily practice.

Methods: The process comprised (1) the evaluation of the interest of 51 variables proposed for the assessment of ax-SpA by means of a systematic literature research; (2) a consensus process involving 78 hospital-based or office-based rheumatologists, considering the collection of each variable in a 4 grade scale from "not very useful/useless" to "mandatory"; (3) a consensus on the minimum interval of time for periodic assessment of the selected variables on a 5 grade scale from "at each visit" to "never to be re-collected".

Results: The systematic literature research retrieved a total of 14,133 abstracts, of which 213 were included in the final qualitative synthesis.