Prevalence of each item of the unmodified ACR 1987 criteria, modified ACR 1987, and ACR/EULAR criteria in patients with and without a final diagnosis of RA after 2 years, defined as RA diagnosed by the office-based rheumatologist and receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drug and/or glucocorticoid therapy.
| Item | Final Diagnosis of RA | p | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No, N = 170, n (%) | Yes, N = 100, n (%) | ||
| 1. Morning stiffness ≥ 1 hour* | 59 (34.7) | 68 | < 0.0001 |
| 2. Arthritis of 3 or more joint areas* | 74 (43.5) | 78 | < 0.0001 |
| 3. Arthritis of hand joints* | 76 (44.7) | 82 | < 0.0001 |
| 4. Symmetric arthritis* | 61 (35.9) | 77 | < 0.0001 |
| 5. Rheumatoid nodules | 0 (0) | 3 | < 0.0001 |
| 6. Rheumatoid factor (positive) | 24 (14.1) | 57 | < 0.0001 |
| Low | 14 (8.2) | 24 | |
| High | 10 (5.9) | 33 | |
| 7. Radiographic changes | 10 (5.9) | 11 | 0.15 |
| 8. ACPA (positive) | 11 (6.4) | 48 | < 0.0001 |
| Low | 2 (1.2) | 5 | |
| High | 9 (5.3) | 43 | |
| ACR 1987 criteria ≥ 4 | 34 (20) | 64 | < 0.0001 |
| ACR 1987 Liao 2 modified criteria ≥ 3 | 58 (34.1) | 84 | < 0.0001 |
| ACR 1987 Liao 1 modified criteria ≥ 4 | 34 (20) | 69 | < 0.0001 |
| Joint involvement, points | |||
| 0 | 78 (45.9) | 17 | |
| 1 | 14 (8.2) | 3 | |
| 2 | 42 (24.7) | 26 | < 0.0001 |
| 3 | 22 (12.9) | 31 | |
| 5 | 14 (8.2) | 23 | |
| More than 6 weeks (1 point) | 120 (70.6) | 83 | 0.028 |
| Elevated ESR or CRP (1 point) | 121 (71.2) | 81 | 0.08 |
| RF or ACPA, points | |||
| 0 | 132 (77.6) | 29 | |
| 2 | 13 (76.5) | 11 | < 0.0001 |
| 3 | 17 (10) | 49 | |
| ACR/EULAR ≥ 6 | 24 (14.1) | 58 | < 0.0001 |
↵* More than 6 weeks. RF: rheumatoid factor; ACPA: anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP: serum C-reactive protein; ACPA: anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies.