Investigation of changes in ankylosing spondylitis disease activity through 2021 COVID-19 wave in Taiwan by using electronic medical record management system

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 349
• Main Authors: Huang, Pei-Ju, Chen, Yun-Wen, Yen, Tsai-Hung, Liu, Yen-Tze, Lin, Shih-Ping, Chen, Hsin-Hua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 07.01.2023; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Ankylosing spondylitis; Arthritis; Blood Sedimentation; C-reactive protein; C-Reactive Protein - analysis; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Electronic Health Records; Electronic medical records; Erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Humans; Severity of Illness Index; Spondylitis, Ankylosing - epidemiology; Taiwan - epidemiology; Taiwan
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-27657-6

We aim to investigate the alteration in disease activity of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) individuals before, during, and after the COVID-19 wave in Taiwan by using electronic medical-record management system (EMRMS). We identified 126 AS individuals from the single center, and gathered data of the three disease activities (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index [BASDAI], Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score with erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ASDAS-ESR], and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score with C-Reactive Protein [ASDAS-CRP]) by using EMRMS before (7 February to 1 May, 2021), during (2 May to 24 July, 2021), and after the COVID-19 wave (25 July to 16 October, 2021). We compared the disease activity measures of the three phases through a paired t test. Among the 126 individuals, CRP was significantly higher during the COVID-19 wave (0.2 (0.1, 0.5) mg/dl, p = 0.001) than before the wave (0.2 (0.1, 0.4) mg/dl), ESR (8.0 (4.0, 15.0) mm/h, p = 0.003) and ASDAS-ESR (1.4 (1.0, 1.9), p = 0.032) were significantly higher after the wave than during the wave (6.0 (3.0, 12.0) mm/h and 1.2 (0.9, 1.8) mm/h) e. ESR, CRP, ASDAS-ESR and ASDAS-CRP were all significant higher after COVID-19 wave than before. The disease activities of AS individuals in Taiwan worsened after 2021 COVID-19 wave in Taiwan.