Development of a prognostic score for work disability in Romanian patients with ankylosing spondylitis

AbstractPurpose: To develop a prognostic score for predicting work disability (WD) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) as strong indicator for poor vocational rehabilitation. Method: A cross-sectional study was performed in a group of 170 patients with AS, 120 work disabled and 50 still employed. The variables strongly associated with WD were quantified (scored 0–30) – abnormalities of: anterior–posterior radiograph of pelvis, lateral cervical spine radiograph and lung function tests, certain work factors (occupation, physical strain and microclimate), Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Mobility Index and Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index tests. Results: The eight-item score identifies WD with sensitivity of 91.7% and specificity of 85.7%. The scaling properties were fulfilled: internal consistency – Chronbach's alpha 0.73; reliability – intraclass correlation coefficient 0.73; redundancy weak–moderate, with coefficients ranging from 0.032 to 0.797; the discriminative capacity by the signific...