Fig. 2

Short form-36 (SF-36) in 211 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) compared to 1055 age-matched and sex-matched controls from the general population (a) and 210 patients with AS, stratified by sex (b). Mean ± SD are shown. physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) are standardized scores with a mean of 50 and SD of 10. The other domains score between 0 and 100 with 0 = worst and 100 = best health. PF, physical function; RP, role physical; BP, bodily pain; GH, general health; VT, vitality; SF, social function; RE, role emotional; MH, mental health. Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon rank sum tests were used for comparisons; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001