Objective The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and clinical characteristics of spondyloarthritis in Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) peoples of Alaska. Methods We queried electronic health records from participating tribal health organizations within the Alaska Tribal Health System from 2012 to 2019 to identify adults with a potential diagnosis of spondyloarthritis based on ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes. Medical records were abstracted to confirm the diagnosis and clinical characteristics. Adults who were alive at the end of the study period and had a confirmed clinician diagnosis of spondyloarthritis were included in prevalence calculations. We determined whether included adults had medical record documentation of meeting spondyloarthritis classification criteria. Results The age-adjusted prevalence of any form of spondyloarthritis was 355 per 100,000 adults (95% confidence interval (CI) 317-397); for psoriatic arthritis it was 162 (95% CI 137-191) and for ankylosing spondylitis it was 107 (95% CI 86-131). Two-thirds (67.0%) of adults with any form of spondyloarthritis who were tested were HLA B27 positive. Two-thirds of adults with spondyloarthritis other than psoriatic arthritis (69.1%) had documentation in their medical record to confirm that they met clinical classification criteria for axial spondyloarthritis. Conclusion The prevalence of spondyloarthritis in AN/AI peoples of Alaska is lower than previously reported in this population but higher than most populations previously studied Understanding the increased prevalence of spondyloarthritis in this population may help clinicians identify and treat the condition in AN/AI peoples.
Morrison et al. (Wed,) studied this question.