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Abstract Number: 1649

Cohort Identification of Axial Spondyloarthritis in a Large Healthcare Dataset: Current and Future Methods

Gopi Penmetsa1 and Jessica Walsh2, 1University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 2University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, Salt Lake City, UT

Meeting: 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: diagnosis and spondylarthritis

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Session Information

Date: Monday, October 22, 2018

Title: Spondyloarthritis Including Psoriatic Arthritis – Clinical Poster II: Clinical/Epidemiology Studies

Session Type: ACR Poster Session B

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: Big data research is important for studying uncommon diseases in real-world settings. Most big data studies in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) have been limited to populations identified with billing codes for ankylosing spondylitis (AS). axSpA is a more inclusive concept, and reliance on AS codes does not produce a comprehensive axSpA study population. The first objective was to describe our process for establishing an appropriate sample of patients with and without axSpA for developing novel axSpA identification methods. The second objective was to determine the classification performance of AS billing codes against the chart-reviewed reference standard.

Methods: Veteran Health Affairs data, between January 2005 and June 2015, were used to randomly select patients with phenotypes determined by expert opinion to represent high, moderate, and low likelihoods of an axSpA diagnosis. A risk stratified sampling approach was applied to balance chart review feasibility(enrichment with high risk patients) with generalizability (inclusion of low risk patients). With chart review, the sampled patients were classified as Yes, No, or Uncertain axSpA status. These classification assignments were used as the reference standard for determining the positive predictive value (PPV) and sensitivity of AS ICD-9 codes for axSpA

Results: A higher percentage of patients were included from the high risk stratum than the moderate and low risk strata (0.83%, 0.25%, 0.01%, respectively) (Table 1). Six hundred patients were classified as Yes axSpA (26.8%), No axSpA (68.3%), and Uncertain axSpA (4.8%) (Table 2). The PPV of an AS ICD-9 code for axSpA was 83.3% and the sensitivity was 57.3% (Figure 1).

Conclusion: Standard methods of identifying axSpA patients with AS diagnosis codes lacked sensitivity. An appropriate sample of patients with and without axSpA was established for developing novel axSpA identification methods that are anticipated to enable previously impractical big data research

Table 2. AxSpA classification by chart review

All

High risk for AxSpA

Moderate risk for AxSpA

Low risk for AxSpA

No. [%]

(95% CI)

n=600

AS

No. (95% CI)

n=100

B27+

No. (95% CI)

n=100

Non-AS SpA subtype

No. (95% CI)

n=100

Sacroiliitis

No. (95% CI)

n=100

SpA mimics

No. (95% CI)

n=100

Chronic back pain

No. (95% CI)

n=100

Yes AxSpA

162 [27.0] (23.5-30.6)

87

(80.4-93.6)

38

(28.5-47.5)

27

(18.3-35.7)

7

(2.0-12.0)

2

(0.0-4.7)

1

(0.0-3.0)

No AxSpA

409 [68.2] (64.4-71.9)

4

(0.2-7.8)

57

(47.3-66.7)

63

(53.5-72.5)

89

(82.9-95.1)

97

(93.7-100.0)

99

(97.0-100.0)

Uncertain AxSpA

29 [4.8]

(3.1-6.5)

9

(3.4-14.6)

5

(0.7-9.3)

10

(4.1-15.9)

4

(0.2-7.8)

1

(0.0-3.0)

0

(0.0-0.0)

No. = number. CI = Confidence interval

Table 1. Selection of patients sampled for the chart review population

Subgroups

Subgroup Criteria

(ICD-9 or laboratory data)

No. of Veterans

No. of Veterans selected to chart review population

% from each risk stratum selected to the chart review population

High risk for AxSpA

Ankylosing spondylitis

720.0

15,862

100

0.83

HLA-B27 positivity

positive B27 test result

8,168

100

Moderate risk for AxSpA

Sacroiliitis

720.2

50,603

100

0.25

SpA subtype other than AS

100*

Spondyloarthritis NOS

720.8x and/or 720.9x

6,319

Reactive arthritis

711.x and/or 99.3

1,072

Psoriatic arthritis

696.0

22,625

Enteropathic arthritis

713.1 AND either 555.x OR 556.x

521

Low risk of AxSpA

Chronic back pain

(≥2 ICD-9 codes for back pain ≥ 3 months apart [724.1, 724.2, 724.5])

2,069,644

100

0.01

Non-SpA rheumatologic disease

100*

DISH

721.6

2,963

Crystal arthritis

274.x and/or 712.x

675,799

Rheumatoid arthritis

714.x

143,620

Other inflammatory arthritis

CTD (710.x), vasculitis (273.2, 446.0, 446.4, 446.5, 446.7), PMR (725), Paget’s (731.0), sarcoidosis (135)

135,608

*25 patients from each subcategory of spondyloarthritis NOS, reactive arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, enteropathic arthritis, DISH, crystal arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and other inflammatory arthritis.


Disclosure: G. Penmetsa, None; J. Walsh, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Penmetsa G, Walsh J. Cohort Identification of Axial Spondyloarthritis in a Large Healthcare Dataset: Current and Future Methods [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018; 70 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/cohort-identification-of-axial-spondyloarthritis-in-a-large-healthcare-dataset-current-and-future-methods/. Accessed .
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