Validation of the definition of rheumatoid arthritis flare based on SDAI and CDAI in clinical practice in two French independent cohorts

New definitions for flares in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on the Simplified and Clinical Disease Activity Indices (SDAI, CDAI) have been recently introduced.1 In this article, the authors defined flare as an absolute increase of 4.7 in SDAI and 4.5 in CDAI. Following this proposal we aimed at studying these cut-off values for absolute increases in SDAI and CDAI in diagnosing self-reported flares and treatment escalation in two separate real-world cohorts of patients with RA in France. The first cohort included 101 patients with established RA,2 recruited between May 2016 and February 2018 and annually evaluated in day hospitalisation (table 1). We collected data from their initial visit and their 12-month follow-up. The second cohort consisted of 272 patients with established RA in remission or low disease activity, defined by SDAI ≤11 and CDAI ≤10. Among these patients, 73 had a second visit with...
Source: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases - Category: Rheumatology Authors: Tags: ARD Letter Source Type: research