[RAISE study observational and cross sectional study to evaluate the actual reality of the socio-economic impact of ankylosing spondylitis].

Objectives: Evaluate the relationship between activity functional and quality of life (QoL) measures with the costs supported by the Portuguese patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in Portugal.

Methods And Materials: Observational and cross-sectional study performed in patients with AS diagnosis independent from the stage of the disease. Sociodemographics data use of health resources activity functional and QoL scales were collected Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI) Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) and EQ-5D including Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

Results: 127 patients were included of whom 67.7% were male with an average age of 48.7 years (range 22-75 years). Among employed patients 20.6% needed to modify their professional activity due to AS. The mean duration of the disease was 14.4 years. It was observed in the last year that 85.0% of the patients performed on average 7 visits to the physician due to AS 89.0% and 67.7% performed laboratory analysis and other exams respectively 67.5% performed physiotherapy treatments 3.1% were hospitalized and 85.8 were taking medication for AS. The median total cost supported by an AS patient was 525 Euro. It was observed the following average scores 5 in BASDAI 4.9 in BASFI 1.1 in HAQ and 58.7 in VAS. It was observed a statistically significant correlation between the total cost with the disease supported by the patient and BASDAI (r=0.257; p=0.004) and HAQ (r=0.299; p=0.010) scales.

Conclusions: The results indicate that a worst state of health turn into a higher cost for the patients.