Sieper et al reported new criteria for the diagnosis of inflammatory back pain (IBP). This can help to identify a patient with chronic back pain who may have axial spondyloarthritis. The authors are members of the Assessment in SpondylArthritis international Society (ASAS).
Patient selection: chronic back pain (> 3 months)
Parameters:
(1) age at onset
(2) manner of onset
(3) improvement with exercise
(4) improvement with rest
(5) pain at night
Parameter |
Finding |
Points |
age at onset |
< 40 years |
1 |
|
>= 40 years |
0 |
manner of onset |
insidious |
1 |
|
not insidious (acute, other) |
0 |
improvement with exercise |
no |
0 |
|
yes |
1 |
improvement with rest |
no |
1 |
|
yes |
0 |
pain at night |
no |
0 |
|
yes (with improvement on getting up) |
1 |
total score =
= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)
Interpretation:
• minimum score: 0
• maximum score: 5
• A score >= 4 was associated with the presence of inflammatory back pain.
Performance:
• A score >= 4 was 77% sensitive and 92% specific for IBP in the initial set of workshop patients but a lower specificity (72%) in a validation cohort..
Purpose: To evaluate a patient for inflammatory back pain (IBP) using the criteria of Sieper et al of ASAS.
Specialty: Immunology/Rheumatology
Objective: criteria for diagnosis, comorbid conditions
ICD-10: M54,