[Effect of rheumatoid arthritis on physical performance of patients]

To determine the changes occurRing in physical performance of patients with RA, 188 patients have been observed over a ten-year period. The observation included two groups: the test group comprising 93 patients with RA who have never been treated by any disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and the control group comprising 95 patients with RA who have regularly taken DMARDs under the rheumatologist's supervision. The average age of the test group was considerably higher, there were more retired persons with a prolonged course of illness, their physical performance being more intensely affected than that of the control group. Further analysis during the observation period showed significant decrease of physical performance in both groups regardless of their being treated or not by the DMARDs which, in our opinion, only modify the illness. To conclude, irrespective of the application of the DMARDs, RA is undoubtedly an illness with considerable socio-economic significance since it leads to great physical disability (invalidity) of all RA patients.