Evaluation of quality of life using ASQoL questionnaire in patients with ankylosing spondylitis in a Chinese population

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability of Chinese version of the ankylosing spondylitis quality of life questionnaire (ASQoL) for AS patients. All the enrolled AS patients should fulfill five questionnaires (BASDAI, BASFI, DFI, BAS-G and ASQoL) by himself, then the investigators did physical examination of the patients, fulfilling BASMI. Physical function has a strong correlation with QoL in patients with AS. In different disease activity groups, ASQoL had a correlation with BASFI, especially in the moderate activity group (gamma = 0.66, P < 0.0001). All four questionnaires in entanacept treatment group improved distinctly on week 6 and 12 comparing to baseline. There were significantly correlations of changing between ASQoL and BAS-G, BASDAI and BASFI after treatment with etanercept in AS patients. The Chinese ASQoL questionnaire is valuable to evaluate the activity of AS patients and effect of biologic agent treatment in patients with AS. It is a good generic instrument to measure QoL in patients with AS in China.