Correspondence on 'Re-examining remission definitions in rheumatoid arthritis: considering the 28-joint Disease Activity Score, C reactive protein level and patient global assessment

We read with great interest the editorial by Felson et al on definitions of remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 It gives a comprehensive and historical overview of the development of remission criteria and provides a well-founded critique of remission criteria based on the 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28). DAS28 has been primarily developed and validated for evaluations at the group level, that is, for measuring effects in clinical trials. However, in almost forgotten earlier times, when patient remission was rarely achieved, there was a need for a single index, expressing disease activity of the individual patient, and the only instrument available was the DAS44.2 When biologicals become available, in many countries of Europe, use of DAS28 as single index of disease activity was also stimulated by health authorities and insurance companies, requiring DAS28 proof of active RA and documented previous treatment failure (or contraindication) of...

Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - July 13, 2023 Category: Rheumatology Authors: Ferreira, R. J. O., Welsing, P. M. J., Jacobs, J. W., Gossec, L., Ndosi, M., Machado, P. M., van der Heijde, D., Da Silva, J. A. Tags: ARD Correspondence Source Type: research