Symposium Article
Epidemiology of Spondyloarthropathies in Central America

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Abstract

The authors reviewed retrospectively a cohort of 233 spondyloarthropathy patients observed in 2 centers in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and in hospitals in San Salvador, El Salvador, and San Jose, Costa Rica. Guatemalan patients were either from the clinic of Guatemalan Association against Rheumatic Diseases (n = 105) or from the private clinic of AGK (n = 78). El Salvador patients (n = 17) were from Hospital Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro Social, and Costa Rican patients (n = 33) were from Hospital Calderon Guardia, San Jose, Costa Rica. Except for the Costa Rican data, which were published in 2007, the patients’ medical records were analyzed using standardized questionnaires. Prevalence of spondyloarthropathy was slightly higher in females than males (57% versus 43%, respectively). The median age was 47.5 years. Most of our patients were diagnosed with reactive arthritis or undifferentiated arthritis (47% and 33%, respectively); 10% of patients had ankylosing spondylitis and 9% psoriatic arthritis.

Section snippets

METHODS

In this retrospective analysis, we reviewed 233 patients who fulfilled the criteria proposed by the American College of Rheumatology for the classification of SpA.2 From Guatemala City, we obtained information from 2 centers: the Guatemalan Association against Rheumatic Diseases (AGAR), a public facility specializing in patients with rheumatic diseases of low income; and the clinical practice of one of the authors (AGK). In El Salvador, we obtained data from the Instituto Salvadoreño del Seguro

RESULTS

A total of 233 patients were included in this review; most of them were from Guatemala City (n = 183), but 17 patients were from El Salvador and 33 from Costa Rica (Table 1). Table 2 shows the distribution by sex; although the distribution of the total group was reasonably balanced (males 46%, n = 106; females 54%, n = 127), differences were observed by country. At the Guatemala AGAR clinic, most of the patients were females (79%); however, at the Guatemala AGK clinic and in El Salvador, most

DISCUSSION

We believe that SpA occur frequently in Central America but that most cases are overlooked because not all symptoms occur simultaneously and may not be observed over prolonged periods of time. In our review, we observed that a large number of patients did not come back for follow-up, particularly younger patients with an acute presentation.

Because SpAs can affect people in their productive and sexual active life and can progress to a chronic incapacitating condition, we need to improve our

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank the patients included in this review and Ana Lucía Guzman, MD, and Mrs. Lissette Girlinger who helped us to collect the information from patients’ medical records.

REFERENCES (4)

  • E. Mazen et al.

    Spondyloarthropathies

  • Ankylosing Spondylitis

There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

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