ANKİLOZAN SPONDİLİTTE BAKIM YÖNETİMİ Care Management in Ankylosing Spondylitis

Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, systemic and inflammatory disease which leads to limited physical activity, particularly in axial joints with variable involvement of peripheral joints and nonarticular structures and causes stiffness in the spine and peripheral joints. The overall prevalance of AS in Turkey is reported as %0.49 and it often affects the young and male adults. The disease improves with clinically chronic lumbago, morning stiffness and disability. Then, skeletal and nonskeletal findings, severe deformities and loss of labor force are observed and the following process involves psychological symptoms and deterioration in quality of life. Nurses play an important role in interdisciplinary team related to management of chronic inflammatory arthritis conditions such as AS. The aim of nurses in care management is to prevent and realize deformities and systematic complications at early stage to provide and protect joint activity, to relieve the pain and stiffness, to enlighten the patient about development, stages and treatment of disease and convince them to take part in treatment actively, and to promote quality of life. In this article, care management in patients with AS was explained under the titles of ‘assessment the process’ and ‘patient education’.