Efficacy of an acquainted drug in the treatment of inflammatory low back pain: sulfasalazine under investigation

Figures & data

Figure 1 Distribution of patients who were evaluated.

Abbreviations: LBP, low back pain; AS, ankylosing spondylitis; USpA, undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy; PsA, psoriatic arthritis; ReA, reactive arthritis; EnA, enteropathic arthritis.

Table 1 Mean and SE of age and disease duration in patients with back pain

Characteristics	Underlying disease						P-value
	AS (n=29)		USpA (n=72)		Othersa (n=17)
	Mean	SE	Mean	SE	Mean	SE
Age (years)	35.9	1.9	36.2	1.1	36.8	1.6	<0.001
Disease duration (months)	67.9	9.7	28.8	4.7	14.0	7.1	0.948

Notes:

a Reactive, psoriatic, or enteropathic arthritis. Results are in response to a one-way analysis of variance.

Abbreviations: SE, standard error; AS, ankylosing spondylitis; USpA, undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.

Table 2 Response rate to sulfasalazine in patients with back pain according to sex and underlying disease

Sex	Underlying disease	N	Response to sulfasalazine
			Positive		Negative
			n	%	n	%
Female	AS	29	9	31.0	20	69.0
	USpA	23	11	47.8	12	52.2
	Othersa	10	6	60.0	4	40.0
Male	AS	–	–	–	–	–
	USpA	49	39	79.6	10	20.4
	Othersa	7	3	42.9	4	57.1

Note:

a Reactive, psoriatic, or enteropathic arthritis.

Abbreviations: AS, ankylosing spondylitis; USpA, undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy.

Figure 2 Response rate (%) to sulfasalazine with respect to underlying diseases in low back pain patients.

Abbreviations: AS, ankylosing spondylitis; ReA, reactive arthritis; USpA, undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy; PsA, psoriatic arthritis; EnA, enteropathic arthritis.