Spondyloarthritis: analysis of a Brazilian series compared with a large Ibero-American registry (RESPONDIA group).

Recent studies have outlined the clinical and epidemiological profile of the spondyloarthritides in Ibero-American countries. The objective of this study was to compare the data collected in a Brazilian epidemiological study with the data obtained from other Ibero-American countries that used the same protocol of investigation. The Brazilian series presented a higher frequency of patients with ankylosing spondylitis (72.3% Brazilian vs. 57.7% Ibero-American), being associated with the male gender (73.6% vs. 66.0%) and histocompatibility antigen positive HLA-B27 (65.9% vs. 51.8%). Regarding the treatment, hormonal anti-inflammatory drugs - NSAIDS were more frequently prescribed to Brazilian patients (77.0% vs. 71.2%) and less often, corticosteroids (7.5% vs. 18.5%).