Juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis--more girls than we thought?
OBJECTIVE
To define the sex ratio of juvenile onset ankylosing spondylitis (AS) among a large population.


METHODS
Using a standard questionnaire, data were collected from 3362 subjects, members of the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society and patients at a tertiary referral center.


RESULTS
Of 3362 patients, 2461 (73%) were male; male:female sex ratio was 2.7:1. Of the total, 379 (11%) had disease onset between the ages of 5 and 16 years. Of these, 278 were boys and 101 girls, giving an overall male:female ratio, in juvenile AS, of 2.6:1. For those with onset ages 5-13 years there was a ratio of 2.1:1, while for those aged over 14 years at onset, the ratio was 3.2:1.


CONCLUSIONS
Older published ratios, ranging from 4.5:1 to 6:1, used smaller samples, focusing only on subjects who were juveniles at the time of the study. Our data collection method, which recruits from 2 sources and includes adults with juvenile onset, attempts to avoid these methodological problems. The data suggest a higher incidence of juvenile AS among females than previously described.
Gomez
K S
KS
Epidemiology Department, Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Bath, UK.
Raza
K
K
Jones
S D
SD
Kennedy
L G
LG
Calin
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000453:epidemiology*