Psychological Co-Morbidities and Physical Therapy in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

Background: Ankylosing Spondulitis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the axial skeleton with variable involvements of the peripheral joints. Symptoms appear gradually with pain and stiffness especially in the morning. As the disease progresses, loss of spinal mobility and chest expansion with limitation of anterior flexion, lateral flexion, and extension of the lumbar spine, are seen. Pain is often severe at rest, but improves with physical activity. Though physical therapy remedies have been scarcely documented, therapeutic exercises are used to help manage pain and improve functions. Methodology: 10 patients (8 males) diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis with HLA-B27 antigen positive participated in the study. After basic evaluation, the patients were asked to fill the quality of life questionnaire and hospital anxiety depression scale. Physical therapy exercises were introduced for a period of 4 weeks. The outcome measures were reassessed after this. The data thus obtained, was then statistically analyzed. Results: The mean age of patients was 26 years with the mean duration of the disease about 1 year and 2 months. Both the scales showed decreased scores post physiotherapy. Conclusion: Physical therapy improved the quality of life in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Patients were seen to be depressed and anxious due to the disease process. Also, financial status gets affected due to expenditure on medicines and surgical interventions further affecting the psychological status.