RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Comparison of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism and the 1987 American Rheumatism Association Classification Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis in an Early Arthritis Cohort in New Zealand
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 2098
OP 2103
DO 10.3899/jrheum.120226
VO 39
IS 11
A1 RAFI RAJA
A1 PETER T. CHAPMAN
A1 JOHN L. O’DONNELL
A1 JAN IPENBURG
A1 CHRIS FRAMPTON
A1 MIRIAM HURST
A1 LISA K. STAMP
YR 2012
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/39/11/2098.abstract
AB Objective. To compare the performance of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria with the 1987 American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in an early arthritis cohort. Methods. The study included 79 patients with early arthritis (symptoms < 12 months) and a minimum of 1 year of followup between January 2004 and August 2010. Case notes were reviewed to determine which criteria were fulfilled at initial, 3-month, 1-year, and 2-year visits. Requirements for disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy and presence of joint erosions were compared at 2 years. Results. At the initial visit, twice as many patients fulfilled the 2010 criteria (67%) compared with the 1987 criteria (34%; p < 0.001). Forty-four percent of patients who fulfilled only the 2010 criteria at the initial visit went on to fulfill both 1987 and 2010 criteria at 3 months (p < 0.001). Eight patients did not meet the 1987 RA criteria solely because of short symptom duration. All 17/79 patients who developed joint erosions went on to eventually fulfill both criteria. Of those patients who fulfilled only the 2010 criteria at baseline, 25/27 (93%) ultimately received DMARD therapy compared with 24/26 (92%) of those fulfilling both 1987 and 2010 criteria. Conclusion. The 2010 ACR/EULAR RA criteria allowed earlier RA classification compared to the 1987 ARA criteria, although both criteria were equivalent in predicting joint erosions and subsequent need for DMARD (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ANZCTR 12608000292370).