title: Sensitivity of anthropometric techniques for clinical trials in ankylosing spondylitis.
abstract: To determine whether anthropometric techniques widely used for assessment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) would be useful outcome measures in long-term clinical trials, 52 AS patients at the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases were studied. All patients had well documented AS with a mean age of 38.1 years, and had been diagnosed for an average of 7.6 years. Measurements were taken before (B) and after (A) 3-week intensive inpatient physical therapy (PT). Short-term therapeutic effects (over 3 weeks) were significant (adjusted p less than 0.0001) for all five measures tested (chest expansion, finger-to-floor distance, height, lumbar flexion, and cervical rotation). Height (adjusted p less than 0.0001), finger-to-floor distance (adjusted p = 0.047) and cervical rotation (adjusted p = 0.012) diminished over the course of follow-up. Therefore, 3 weeks of hospitalization with intensive physical therapy produces measurable short-term change; minute but measurable change with treatment occurs even in long-standing AS; and detectable changes in physical measurements occur over a 5-year period even in long-standing AS. Anthropometric measurements are useful outcome variables for long-term clinical trials in AS, but the potential for improvement in clinical measurements in long-standing AS is predictably small.
authors.affiliation: Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath, England.
authors.forename: W N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barefoot
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods*; D001827:Body Height; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000503:physiopathology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D012399:Rotation; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013131:Spine / Q000503:physiopathology; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013909:Thorax / Q000503:physiopathology