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Search Strategy
Articles in English, French, German, Dutch, Portuguese or Spanish were selected for analysis. All of the descriptions and synonyms for AS and SpA were used in the search terms, in order to identify all relevant studies. Details of search strategy terms for identification of studies can be found online as a supplementary web-Appendix.
Study Selection
Two authors (WB, VN) independently screened each title and abstract in order to select the articles for inclusion in the review. They determined the eligibility of each article according to predefined selection criteria. The main inclusion criterion was: RCT’s including patients with AS and/or SpA. Since axial SpA constitutes a new term that includes patients with predominantly axial symptoms of SpA, studies with non-radiographic axial SpA patients were also included. Since some studies have included not only axial SpA patients but also patients with other rheumatic conditions, we have selected those studies in which at least an arbitrary 80% of the patients were axial SpA patients.
If title and abstract provided insufficient information, the full article text was obtained and reviewed. Reasons to exclude studies were: the sole report of outcomes not included in the ASAS core-set; and the impossibility to obtain a full text. Disagreement between the reviewers regarding inclusion of the articles studies was resolved by consensus. The references of all included papers can be found online in the appendix.
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