AB0714 BALANCE AND FALLS IN AXIAL SPONDYLOARTHRITIS: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients may suffer of balance loss predisposing them to falls. Objectives: To study balance impairment and falls in SpA patients and its association with clinical and epidemiological variables, disease activity, functional and metrology indexes. Methods: Cross sectional study of 55 SpA patients with axial disease. Clinical and epidemiological were collected from the charts. Balance was accessed by Berg Balance Scale(BBS). The following instruments were applied: aSDAS(Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease activity Score)-ESR, aSDAS-CRP, BASDAI(Bath ankylosing Spondylitis Disease activity index), BASFI(Bath ankylosing Spondylitis Functional index), BASMI(Bath ankylosing Spondylitis Metrology index) and aSQoL (Ankylosing spondylitis quality of life questionnaire). The number of falls in the last year was collected. Results: In this sample, 30.9% had high risk of falls by the BBS and 25.4% recalled having at least one fall in the last years. The BBS values were lower in those with white ethnic background(p=0.01); and smokers(p=0.03) and with HLA-B27(p=0.03) and correlated inversely with BASDAI(rho=-0.28), aSDAS-ESR(rho=-0.32) and aSDAS-CRP(rho=-0.33), BASFI(rho=-0.71,p Conclusion: Balance is impaired in 1/3 of SpA patients and the BBS is associated mainly with functional and metrology indexes, showing that patients with severe cumulative damage are more affected.