Referral strategies for early diagnosis of axial spondyloarthritis

Owing to the long diagnostic delay in spondyloarthritis (SpA), the effective identification of those individuals who are likely to have axial SpA among patients with chronic back pain in primary care and their subsequent referral to a rheumatologist for establishing a correct diagnosis is worth pursuing. In this article, the authors discuss potential referral criteria and present clinical studies in which their effectiveness in identifying patients with SpA has been examined.