Physician estimate of inflammation vs global assessment in explaining variations in swollen joint counts in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
Rheumatol Adv Pract
; 8(2): rkae057, 2024.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38800575
ABSTRACT
Objective:
To analyse patients with RA for inflammatory activity by physician estimate of global assessment (DOCGL) vs an estimate of inflammatory activity (DOCINF) to explain variation in the swollen joint count (SJC).Methods:
Patients with RA were studied at routine care visits. Patients completed a multidimensional health assessment questionnaire (MDHAQ) and the physician completed a 28-joint count for swollen (SJC), tender (TJC) and deformed (DJC) joints and a RheuMetric checklist with a 0-10 DOCGL visual numeric scale (VNS) and 0-10 VNS estimates of inflammation (DOCINF), damage (DOCDAM) and patient distress (DOCSTR). The disease activity score in 28 joints with ESR (DAS28-ESR), Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) were calculated. Individual scores and RA indices were compared according to Spearman correlation coefficients and regression analyses.Results:
A total of 104 unselected patients were included, with a median age and disease duration of 54.5 and 5 years, respectively. The median DAS28-ESR was 2.9 (Q1-Q3 2.0-3.7), indicating low activity. DOCINF was correlated significantly with DOCGL (ρ = 0.775). Both DOCGL and DOCINF were correlated significantly with most other measures; correlations with DOCGL were generally higher than with DOCINF other than for SJC. In regression analyses, DOCINF was more explanatory of variation in SJC than DOCGL and other DAS28-ESR components.Conclusions:
Variation in SJC is explained more by a 0-10 DOCINF VNS than the traditional DOCGL or any other measure in RA patients seen in routine care. DOCINF on a RheuMetric checklist can provide informative quantitative scores concerning inflammatory activity in RA patients monitored over long periods.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
En
Journal:
Rheumatol Adv Pract
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Estados Unidos