New article on gender differences in Axial Spondyloarthritis patients in Europe
A new article from the IMAS project, entitled “Gender differences in Patient Journey to Diagnosis and Disease Outcomes: results from the European Map of Axial Spondyloarthritis (EMAS)” has been published in the journal Clinical Rheumatology.
Historically, axSpA has been conceived as a predominantly male disease, which could lead to a bias during diagnosis and treatment of the disease, negatively affecting women. However, data on gender differences in axSpA remain scarce. The EMAS results show that women with axSpA report a longer delay in diagnosis and a higher disease burden in a large sample of 2,846 participants from 13 European countries. This provides a solid basis for understanding gender differences in axSpA.
The results reflect the unmet needs of European female patients. Healthcare professionals need to pay close attention to accurately diagnose and effectively treat axSpA cases, while further research should be conducted into the cause of the observed gender differences.
