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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Increased Proportion of Comorbidities but no Deterioration of sexual QOL during a 5-year follow-up in Patients with ax-SpA in the biologic Treatment Era

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Author's accepted manuscript. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Rheumatology following peer review. The version of record Berg, K. H., Rohde, G., Pripp, A., Prøven, A., Benestad, E. E. P., Østensen, M. & Haugeberg, G. (2021). Increased proportion of comorbidities but no deterioration of sexual QOL during a 5-year follow-up in patients with axSpA in the biologic treatment era. Rheumatology, 60(9), 4112-4120 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/rheumatology/article/60/9/4112/6067306 and https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keaa887. Objective. To explore patient perception of sexual quality of life (SQOL), an important category of QOL, in male and female patients with axial SpA (axSpA) after a 5 year follow-up. Methods. A broad spectrum of demographic, disease-related, treatment and SQOL data was collected at baseline and at the 5 year follow-up. SQOL was assessed by the SQOL-Female (SQOL-F) questionnaire. For statistical analysis, McNemar’s tests, paired t-tests and multiple regression analyses were applied. Results. A total of 245 axSpA patients (168 men and 77 women) from outpatient clinics were examined (mean age 46 years, mean disease duration 11.9 years at baseline). Compared with baseline, the patients had lower CRP, lower Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Scores, lower BASFI scores, less use of smoking and significantly more patients were treated with biologic DMARDs at the 5 year follow-up. Patient perception of SQOL was basically unchanged at the 5 year follow-up despite a significantly increased proportion of comorbidities, including cardiovascular, endocrine and gastrointestinal disease. A decrease in SQOL after 5 years was observed only in patients exercising 65 years old. Conclusion. In our axSpA patients, no statistically significant changes in SQOL were observed over 5 years, despite a significant increase in comorbidities. Overall disease symptoms decreased, indicating better disease control. Increased use of biologic drugs at the 5 year follow-up may have contributed to this favourable outcome.