This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Pain more acute in JIA patients with enthesitis-related arthritis
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Significant differences in pain intensity, physical function and health status existed across juvenile idiopathic arthritis categories, with patients having enthesitis-related arthritis reporting more frequent and intense pain, according to study results.
Researchers retrospectively studied data from 2,571 children (median age at onset, 5.4 years; 73% girls) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) who were enrolled in the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Registry between May 2010 and June 2011. The registry includes self- and physician-reported measures of pain intensity, physical function, health status, disease characteristics and activity, medication use and statistical analysis.
Pamela F. Weiss
“Several studies suggest that pain is highly prevalent in JIA, often persisting into adulthood,” researcher Pamela F. Weiss, MD, MSCE, assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, told Healio.com. “The CARRA Registry provided us with a unique opportunity to examine pain, function and health status in a large cross-sectional cohort of children with JIA.”
Polyarticular rheumatoid factor-negative (30%) was the most common JIA category, followed by oligoarticular-persistent (27%) and enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA, 10%). In JIA categories, pain intensity (P<.001), physical function and health status (P<.001) ratings differed significantly. Patients with ERA reported worse pain and function compared with patients with other JIA classifications.
Higher active joint count and current use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID), biologics or corticosteroids were associated with worse scores on all patient-reported measures using multivariate analysis. Higher pain intensity and poorer health status was significantly associated with ERA and older age. Worse health status was significantly related to systemic JIA and uveitis.
“This study demonstrates significant differences in self-reported outcomes between juvenile idiopathic arthritis categories,” Weiss said. “Children and adolescents with the enthesitis-related arthritis category reported more pain and poorer physical function than children with other JIA categories. These findings suggest that current treatment strategies may not be equally aggressive or effective across JIA categories.”
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts