The HKSR spondyloarthritis (SpA) special interest group (SIG) was formed in 2018. The vision of the SpA SIG is to encourage collaborative SpA research; provide timely, unbiased, evidence-based, rheumatology medical education and supplemental resources to help meet the educational requirements; and provide enhanced SpA patient care for HKSR members.
To offer continuing medical education activities for physicians and healthcare professionals looking after patients with SpA. Our group has been actively organizing SpA and psoriatic arthritis symposia and workshops.
Throughout the years, our group had facilitated and organized numerous symposia and invited local and overseas speakers on dedicated topics in SpA. We also chaired sessions during the International Conference of Chinese Rheumatology (ICCR) annually. Hands-on workshops on clinical assessment including psoriasis, enthesitis and dactylitis on PsA were also held.
To foster research collaboration across territory hospitals in Hong Kong and other APLAR member national organizations, 9 territory hospitals are participating in the APLAR SpA registry. The registry aimed at understanding the unmet needs and long-term outcome of SpA patients. Other than Hong Kong, over 15 regions (including Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Iran, Indonesia/Jawa Timur, Iraq, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar/Gulf, South Korea) are also collaborative regions of the registry.
To further enhance knowledge flow, the SIG would also promote publication in the HKSR official journal, the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology and Immunology (JCRI), which has become an important platform for knowledge and information for regional rheumatologists. We encourage SpA-related original articles, review papers, case reports and local consensus to be submitted to the JCRI. Dr Chung Ho Yin and colleagues had also published an article on infection in patients with SpA on behalf of the SIG (1).
In the future, the group would continue the efforts in reaching our aim, to provide cutting-edge knowledge on the field to our members, to enhance research collaborations, and to provide better care to our patients with SpA.
Reference
1. Chung HY, Tam LS, Chan SCW, Cheung JPY, Wong PY, Ciang CO, et al. Risk of community-acquired pneumonia requiring hospitalization in patients with spondyloarthritis. Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease. 2020;12:1759720x20962618.
.png)
