BASDAI

WikiDoc Resources for BASDAI
Articles
Most recent articles on BASDAI Most cited articles on BASDAI Review articles on BASDAI Articles on BASDAI in N Eng J Med, Lancet, BMJ
Media
Powerpoint slides on BASDAI Images of BASDAI Photos of BASDAI Podcasts & MP3s on BASDAI Videos on BASDAI
Evidence Based Medicine
Cochrane Collaboration on BASDAI Bandolier on BASDAI TRIP on BASDAI
Clinical Trials
Ongoing Trials on BASDAI at Clinical Trials.gov Trial results on BASDAI Clinical Trials on BASDAI at Google
Guidelines / Policies / Govt
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse on BASDAI NICE Guidance on BASDAI NHS PRODIGY Guidance FDA on BASDAI CDC on BASDAI
Books
Books on BASDAI
News
BASDAI in the news Be alerted to news on BASDAI News trends on BASDAI
Commentary
Blogs on BASDAI
Definitions
Definitions of BASDAI
Patient Resources / Community
Patient resources on BASDAI Discussion groups on BASDAI Patient Handouts on BASDAI Directions to Hospitals Treating BASDAI Risk calculators and risk factors for BASDAI
Healthcare Provider Resources
Symptoms of BASDAI Causes & Risk Factors for BASDAI Diagnostic studies for BASDAI Treatment of BASDAI
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
CME Programs on BASDAI
International
BASDAI en Espanol BASDAI en Francais
Business
BASDAI in the Marketplace Patents on BASDAI
Experimental / Informatics
List of terms related to BASDAI

Overview

The BASDAI is important because it is a validated diagnostic test which allows a physician (usually a rheumatologist) to determine the effectiveness of a current drug therapy, or the need to institute a new drug therapy for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis. The BASDAI consists of a one through 10 scale (one being no problem and 10 being the worst problem) in response to 6 questions pertaining to the 5 major symptoms of AS:

• Fatigue
• Spinal pain
• Joint pain / swelling
• Areas of localized tenderness (also called enthesitis, or inflammation of tendons and ligaments)
• Morning stiffness duration
• Morning stiffness severity

To give each symptom equal weighting, the average of the two scores relating to morning stiffness is taken. The resulting 0 to 50 score is divided by 5 to give a final 0 – 10 BASDAI score. Scores of 4 or greater suggest suboptimal control of disease, and patients with scores of 4 or greater are usually good candidates for either a change in their medical therapy, eligible for treatment with powerful biologic therapies such as etanercept, infliximab and adalimumab, or may be eligible for enrollment in clinical trials evaluating new drug therapies directed at Ankylosing Spondylitis.

History

Garrett and coworkers writing in the Journal of Rheumatology in December 1994 described a self-administered 6-question measurement tool which was to become the gold standard for measuring and evaluating disease activity in Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS). This validated tool is the BASDAI, or the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index. A research team consisting of rheumatologists, physiotherapists, and research associates with a special interest in AS developed the index in Bath, England, hence the reason for "Bath" in the name.

Validation

BASDAI is a quick and simple index (taking between 30 secs and 2 mins to complete) BASDAI demonstrated statistically significant (p<0.001) reliability. BASDAI encorporates a reasonable scale. The individual symptoms and the index as a whole demonstrated good score distribution, using 95% of the scale. BASDAI demonstrates a sensitivity to change within a short period of time. Following a 3 week physiotherapy course, the BASDAI showed a significant (p=0.009) 16.4% score improvement.

Tools and references

• BASDAI automated calculation tool