Increased Risk of Hypertension Associated with Spondyloarthritis Disease Duration: Results from the ASAS-COMOSPA Study

Objective: Spondyloarthritis (SpA) is associated with a number of cardiovascular (CV) comorbidities. We examined the association of SpA disease duration and delay in diagnosis with CV-related conditions.

Methods: Using data from the COMOSPA study, the associations between SpA disease duration and CV-related conditions were evaluated in univariable and multivariable logistic regression models. Each model examined 1 CV-related factor as dependent and “SpA disease duration” as a predictor, adjusted for relevant confounders.

Results: Data from 3923 subjects (median SpA disease duration 5.1 yrs, interquartile range 1.3–11.8 yrs) were available for analysis. The main CV-related conditions were hypertension (HTN; 22.4%), ischemic heart disease (2.6%), stroke (1.3%), and diabetes mellitus (5.5%). HTN was associated with SpA disease duration in both univariable and multivariable analysis, with an OR of 1.129 (95% CI 1.072–1.189; p < 0.001) for each 5-year increase in SpA disease duration. Other factors associated with HTN were age, male sex, current body mass index, ever steroid therapy, and ever synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy, but not nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID). In subgroup analysis, the strongest association of HTN and disease duration was seen in subjects with the axial-only SpA phenotype (OR 1.202, 95% CI 1.053–1.372) but not in those with peripheral-only SpA (OR 0.902, 95% CI 0.760–1.070). The other CV conditions were not associated with SpA disease duration.

Conclusion: Duration of SpA disease in the ASAS-COMOSPA cohort is associated with higher odds of HTN, particularly in those with axial disease, but not with other CV-related conditions. The association with HTN does not appear to be related to NSAID exposure.