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Physical function improved among RA patients with sustained remission
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who maintained sustained remission were more likely to have improved physical function, according to recent research.
Jon Thorkell Einarsson, MD, from the Department of Clinical Sciences Lund, Section of Rheumatology, at Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, and colleagues identified 2,416 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the South Swedish Arthritis Treatment Group register who had a DAS28 of less than 2.6 or simplified disease activity index (SDAI) of no more than 3.3 and received anti-tumor necrosis factor treatment, according to the abstract. The researchers compared health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) scores for patients who achieved sustained remission for a period of 6 months during consecutive visits to patients who had non-sustained remission status.
Jon Thorkell Einarsson
There were 1,177 patients who achieved DAS28 remission and, of these patients, sustained remission occurred in 382 patients (15.8%) using DAS28 criteria and in 186 patients (7.7%) using SDAI criteria, with HAQ scores improving within the first 12 months in the DAS28 remission group, according to the abstract. The researchers noted a higher proportion of patients with sustained remission returned to full physical function, and HAQ scores also improved as sustained remission continued.
“Results from our present study indicate that only occasionally reaching remission might not be enough, but for improved physical function, remission should be sustained,” Einarsson and colleagues wrote. “Because the functional status is highly comparable between different remission definitions, the issue of the sustainability of disease remission might be more important than the choice of remission criteria.” – by Jeff Craven
Disclosure: The researchers received grants from the Swedish Rheumatism Association, the Swedish Research Council, the Medical Faculty of Lund University, the Alfred Österlund Foundation, the Crafoord Foundation, the Greta and Johan Kock Foundation, King Gustaf V’s 80-Year Foundation, the Oak foundation and Lund University Hospital.