Activity assessments in rheumatoid arthritis
Josef S Smolen1, Daniel Aletaha
1Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine III, Medical University of Vienna, Austria. josef.smolen@wienkav.at
Current Opinion in Rheumatology
|April 5, 2008
Summary
Simplified disease activity scores are crucial for rheumatoid arthritis management. These tools effectively track progress, enabling tighter treatment control for better patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Rheumatology
- Clinical Assessment
- Disease Activity Monitoring
Background:
- Assessing disease activity is vital for effective rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management.
- The goal is to achieve significant improvement, including low disease activity and remission.
- Simplified instruments offer a valuable approach to monitoring RA disease activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the importance of assessing disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis.
- To emphasize the value of simplified instruments for monitoring disease activity.
- To discuss the achievement of low disease activity and remission in RA.
Main Methods:
- Review of recently developed, validated, and assessed instruments for RA disease activity.
- Analysis of data on the frequency of achieving low disease activity and remission.
- Evaluation of therapeutic strategies involving tight disease activity control.
Main Results:
- Simplified disease activity scores perform comparably or better than complex indices.
- These instruments are effective in evaluating disease activity and treatment response.
- Recent studies show the utility of various instruments in clinical trials and practice.
Conclusions:
- Simplified indices are suitable for routine use in clinical practice and trials.
- Tight control of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity through therapy adaptation improves outcomes.
- Employing simplified instruments facilitates better management and patient outcomes in RA.
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