Techniques for health status measurement in the management of rheumatoid arthritis

Measuring health status in rheumatoid arthritis is complex, and there are a number of methods available. These range from observed measures of function to broader measures of general health status or quality of life which can be assessed by questionnaires which are completed by the patient or administered by a trained interviewer. The choice of measure depends on the purpose of measurement and the context in which the measurement is being made. Many of the measures available (for example, the SF-36) were developed for use in research and have not been adopted for widespread clinical use. There are, however, some measures, such as the disease repercussion profile, which were developed specifically as clinical tools, or which lend themselves to clinical use by virtue of their ease of completion and their clinical meaningfulness. The choice of method will depend on the purpose of measurement, the question being asked and the instrument the investigator feels most comfortable with.