Only one-third of SpA patients in the UK are managed by rheumatologists, a study shows.

The prevalence of AS in primary care was 13.4/10 000 and 4.7/10 000 in rheumatology, according to the research published in Rheumatology.

Patients seen in the rheumatology clinic tended to be younger overall and at diagnosis (mean age 51 vs 62 years and 35 vs 38, respectively; both P < 0.001) and more likely to have a history of uveitis (34 vs 22%), IBD (12 vs 6%) and psoriasis (14 vs 6%) (all P < 0.001).

The findings indicate a large ‘silent’ proportion of patients who may have serious pathology and would benefit from additional assessment in a specialist clinic, say the authors including Gary MacFarlane from the University of Aberdeen in the UK.