Funder: NHS Grampian Endowment Grant £12,000.00

Start date: 01/08/2014. End date: 01/02/16

PI: Gareth Jones (Aberdeen).

Collaborators: Kirstie Haywood (Warwick) plus co-applicants.

Description: The programme has two core workstreams:

1) further development and refinement (from a patient perspective) of the Aberdeen Flares Questionnaire: this will involve focus groups with patients with AS, item generation and refinement and construction of a new patient-derived measure (KH will lead on this aspect of the study);

2) A survey of patients with AS (as part of the SIRUS and BSR-BR-AS disease registries – to determine the prevalence of flares, and to examine differences in flare characteristics.

Progress: Stage 1 has been completed; the revised measure is currently being piloted ahead of the large UK survey.