Disease activity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seen in standard rheumatology care in 20 countries in the quest-RA study

Abstract

Background: Most medical literature concerning quantitative measurement of RA is based on randomized clinical trials and does not cover the spectrum of the disease world wide. Objectives: To conduct a cross sectional review of non-selected consecutive out-patients with RA as part of standard clinical care in 20 countries for an overview of characteristics of patients with RA. Methods: Clinical assessment and a patient self-report questionnaire, which was translated into each language. Variation in disease activity on DAS28 within and between countries was analyzed. Results: Between Jan2005 and Jan2007, the QUEST-RA project included 4,955 patients from 57 sites in 20 countries; 78% were female, >90% Caucasian, mean age was 57 years, and mean disease duration was 11.5 years. Overall, patients had an active disease, with a mean DAS28 of 4.2, and significant variation between countries (p<0.001). Among 48 sites with >50 patients, low disease activity of DAS28<3.2 was met by the majority of patients in 8 sites in 6 countries; in 11 sites in 7 other countries >50% of patients had high disease activity of DAS>5.1 as illustrated in the Figure. [...].