Female ankylosing spondylitis patients do not respond as well to biologic treatment as their male counterparts, according to a study presented at the International Congress on Spondyloarthritides 2018 in Gent, Belgium, Oct. 4-8, and reported in Medscape.
Researchers assessed 359 patients with ankylosing spondylitis, including 120 female and 239 male patients, over a five-year period. Study authors examined demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and inflammatory markets.
Study authors observed no significant differences in smoking, alcohol consumption, or other lifestyle factors between men and women. However, women saw less improvement in disease activity parameters with tumor necrosis factor inhibitors than men.
Medication adherence was worse for women than men, and female patients had significantly higher scores on the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index, which includes symptoms such as fatigue, spinal pain, peripheral joint pain, local tenderness, and intensity and duration of morning stiffness.
Ankylosing spondylitis is difficult to diagnose, and women are diagnosed an average of seven months later than men, according to a study in The Journal of Rheumatology.