ab1903

Is quality of life affected by season and weather conditions in ankylosing spondylitis ?

B. Challier¹, F. Urlacher^2,3, G. Vançon⁴, I. Lemelle⁵, J. Pourel³, F. Guillemin^2,3

¹Département d'Informatique Médicale, Hôpital Minjoz, CHU Besançon; ²Ecole de Santé Publique EA1124, Faculté de Médecine, Nancy; ³Service de Rhumatologie B, CHU Nancy; ⁴Centre de Rééducation J. Parisot, Bainville sur Madon; ⁵Service de Médecine Infantile, Hôpital d'Enfant, CHU Nancy, France.

ABSTRACT
Objective
To examine the links between the quality of life (QOL) and season and weather conditions in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients.

Methods
A cohort of 146 AS patients (67% males), with a mean age of 47.3 years and a mean disease duration of 12.8 years, answered a self-administered questionnaire, the AS-AIMS2 validated for AS, 4 times over a period of one year in a postal survey. Clinical measures were assessed in a subsample of the cohort. Meteorological data including daily temperature, hygrometry, wind speed and atmospheric pressure were collected over the same period.

Results
In this cohort, 106 patients completed the follow-up. A higher lumbar spine flexibility (Schober index) was associated with a higher climatic temperature and lower wind speed . Physical QOL improved in the summer, as did Social Interaction in the summer and fall, while Role QOL decreased in winter. A lower perceived QOL was significantly associated with a higher temperature and wind speed over the past 4 weeks, and with a higher hygrometry and atmospheric pressure over the past 2 days prior to completion of the questionnaire.

Conclusion
This study provides some support to the popular belief and frequent patient complaints of a link between health status and perceived quality of life, as assessed by a specific questionnaire, with season and weather conditions.

Key words
Ankylosing spondylitis, quality of life, season, weather.

Please address correspondence to: Francis Guillemin, MD, Ecole de Santé Publique, Faculté de Médecine, BP 184, 54505 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, France.
E-mail: francis.guillemin@sante-pub.u-nancy.fr