Validation of RAPID3 using a Japanese version of Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire with Japanese rheumatoid arthritis patients: characteristics of RAPID3 compared to DAS28 and CDAI

The RAPID3 questionnaire as a screening tool to reduce the number of outpatient clinic visits: a retrospective cohort study

Background

Treat-to-target strategies require frequent on-site evaluations of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), burdening patients and caregivers. However, this frequency may not be required in patients in a stable low disease activity state. The Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) is a reliable tool to detect such states in groups but has not been tested to reduce the frequency of on-site evaluations in individual patient care. In Reade, an outpatient rheumatology clinic, patients can complete the questionnaire online prior to consultation, and the results are directly fed into the electronic patient record. Focusing on low disease activity, we retrospectively studied the test characteristics of RAPID3 and its agreement with the DAS28 in our database of routine patient care.

Objective

To assess the test characteristics and agreement between de DAS28 and the RAPID3 in patients with RA, with a focus on the low disease activity categories.

Methods

We performed a retrospective database study with available clinical data collected as part of usual care from the electronic medical record at Reade Amsterdam. The dataset comprised RAPID3 assessments followed by a DAS28 within 2 weeks, obtained between June 2014 and March 2021. We dichotomized the disease activity categories for both the RAPID3 and DAS28 into low (remission and low disease activity) and high (moderate and high disease activity). With cutoff values of 2.0 for RAPID3 and 3.2 for DAS28, we calculated test characteristics and agreement (Cohen’s kappa).

Results

A total of 5009 combined RAPID3 and DAS28 measurements were done at Reade in 1681 unique RA patients. The mean age was 60 years, and 76% of patients were female with a median disease duration of 4 years. Agreement was considered fair (kappa = 0.26). In total, 1426 (28%) of the RAPID3 measurements were classified as low and could be potentially targeted to skip their consultations. The sensitivity to detect low disease activity was 0.39, specificity was 0.93, and the positive predictive value was 0.92.

Conclusion

We showed that when the RAPID3 classifies a patient into low disease activity state, the accuracy is 92%. Of all consultations, 28% could possibly be postponed following the screening with RAPID3.

Patient Reported Outcome Measures for Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity: a systematic review following COSMIN guidelines

BACKGROUND

The current standard of care in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) requires regular assessment of disease activity (DA). All standard RA DA measurement instruments require joint counts to be undertaken by a healthcare professional with/without a blood test. Few healthcare providers have the capacity to assess patients as frequently as stipulated by guidelines. Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) could be an efficient and informative way to assess RA DA, which is highlighted by the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, as most consultations are remote rather than face-to-face. We aimed to assess all PROMs for RA DA against the internationally recognised COSMIN guidelines to provide evidence-based recommendations to select the most suitable PROMs.

METHODS

Review registered on PROSPERO as CRD42020176176. The search strategy was based on a previous similar systematic review and expanded to include all articles up to January 2019. All identified articles were rated by two independent assessors following the COSMIN guidelines.

RESULTS

668 abstracts were identified, with 10 articles included. A further 21 were identified from a previous review. Ten PROMs were identified. There was insufficient evidence to place any of the identified PROMs into recommendation for use category A due to lack of evidence for content validity, as stipulated by the COSMIN guidelines.

CONCLUSION

Lack of evidence of content validity limits suitable PROM selection, therefore none can be recommended for use. It is acknowledged that all included PROMs were developed before the COSMIN guidelines were published. Future research on PROMs for RA DA must provide evidence of content validity.

Cross-cultural and clinical validation of the MDHAQ/RAPID3 questionnaire in electronic format for a Brazilian population of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

BACKGROUND

Patients with rheumatologic diseases are monitored fundamentally through metric tools or index calculated from clinical data and patient exams, which allow us to assess the severity of the disease and guide the therapeutic decision. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), for treatment to be optimized and considered effective, periodic assessment with composite disease activity index and a 'treat-to-target' approach is required. The Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) in the Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ) includes only three measures based on the central patient self-reported dataset and can be used in a 'treat-to-target' approach analogous to the Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and the Disease Activity Score 28-joints (DAS28). This tool, however, has not undergone cross-cultural or clinical validation in Brazil. In this research, we performed the MDHAQ cross-cultural and clinical validation for the Brazilian population of RA patients.

METHODS

The Portuguese version of the MDHAQ was created identically in an electronic questionnaire and underwent a cross-cultural validation process with 38 participants. Test-retest was performed in 29 patients. Further, a clinical validation with 129 Rheumatoid Arthritis patients was performed. Electronic MDHAQ was answered through an online platform. We also collected socioeconomic data as well as other clinical (CDAI, SDAI, DAS28) and functional (HAQ) scores during the face-to-face assessment of patients.

RESULTS

MDHAQ/RAPID3 maintained semantic, idiomatic, as well as conceptual and experience equivalence for the Brazilian population, with 92% acceptance of participants. It showed test-retest reliability, adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.85) and correlation of the scores obtained with adequate association with the DAS28 gold standard. RAPID3 also had high sensitivity (98%), adequate specificity (48%), high negative predictive value (92%) and negative post-test probability of 8%, attributes expected for a test tool for population screening.

CONCLUSION

The use of MDHAQ/RAPID3 associated with traditional clinical measures can adequately allow for remote follow-up based on the 'treat-to-target' approach with performance comparable to the gold standard DAS28, being a viable tool in the sample of Brazilian patients with RA in the current context of telehealth.

Assessment of discordance of treatment satisfaction between patients with rheumatoid arthritis in low disease activity or in remission and their treating physicians: A cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES

To assess discordance in overall treatment satisfaction between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their physicians.

METHODS

This was a multicenter, cross-sectional, observational study of patients with RA (in low disease activity or remission) and their board-certified treating physicians in Japan; 202 patient-physician pairs were analyzed. Treatment satisfaction and perceptions were assessed using a structured questionnaire.

RESULTS

Using a two-level ('satisfied' or 'unsatisfied') assessment of satisfaction, 195 patients (96.5%) and 190 physicians (94.1%) answered 'satisfied' with a high level of concordance (184 pairs, 91.1%). Using a four-level assessment, the ratio of 'satisfied' to 'somewhat satisfied' was higher in patients (66.3%/30.2%) than physicians (43.6%/50.5%). Satisfaction with treatment outcomes (e.g. joint conditions, subjective symptoms) was generally high in patients and physicians; relatively less satisfaction was reported for medication cost, especially among patients. Shared treatment decision-making was reported in ≥96% of patient-physician pairs. The most common 'most important' treatment target differed between patients ('Have a social life without worrying about RA') and physicians ('Prevent joint damage, deformity, and joint swelling').

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment satisfaction and concordance were high between patients in low activity/remission and physicians. Some differences between patients and physicians were reported in satisfaction for specific treatment outcomes and important treatment targets.

Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) alone is insufficient to monitor disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice

Objective

To test the longitudinal association between patient-reported outcome, Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) and the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints that includes the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR) in routine-care patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods

Patients with RA treated with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs were included in this prospective observational cohort. The longitudinal association between RAPID3 (0-10) and DAS28-ESR and its individual components (swollen joint count (SJC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (mm/hour), tender joint count (TJC) and patient global assessment (PGA)) was tested using generalised estimating equations in patients with more than two consecutive visits with data on RAPID3 and DAS28-ESR. Interactions between RAPID3 and gender, pain, PGA and age at baseline were tested, and if significant (p<0.20) and clinically relevant, models were fit in the corresponding strata.

Results

In total, 330 patients were included (mean follow-up 10.7 (SD 9.7) months, female gender 67.9%). The longitudinal association between RAPID3 and DAS28-ESR was weak (β=0.29 (95% CI 0.24 to 0.35), n=207), meaning that one unit increase in RAPID3 corresponded to a 0.29 unit increase in Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28). RAPID3 was most strongly associated with subjective (TJC: β=0.89 (95% CI 0.61 to 1.17); PGA: β=0.94 (95% CI 0.84 to 1.04)) and not with objective components of DAS28 (SJC: β=0.29 (95% CI 0.17 to 0.41), n=172). The association between RAPID3 and ESR was poor but modified by gender, being only significant in men (β=0.37 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.67)).

Conclusions

These data suggest that RAPID3 does not sufficiently capture changes in objective inflammatory signs. Monitoring by RAPID3 alone is therefore insufficient to follow disease activity in patients wth RA in clinical practice.

One-year maintenance with routine assessment of patient index data 3-based remission may inhibit radiographic progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with routine clinical therapy: A retrospective comparison of radiographic outcome and its prognostic factors between maintained remissions with patient-reported outcome index and physician-oriented disease activity indices

OBJECTIVES

We investigated whether the maintenance of routine assessment of patient index data 3 (RAPID3) remission for one year (RAPID3-MR) may predict good radiographic outcomes. We also compared radiographic progression to prognostic factors among patients with RAPID3-MR, with the maintenance of clinical disease activity index remission for one year (CDAI-MR) or with the maintenance of 28 joint count disease activity score remission for one year (DAS28-MR).

METHODS

Of 1220 patients with available clinical data, 92 with RAPID3-MR, 80 with RAPID3-NMR (not satisfying RAPID3-MR), 45 with CDAI-MR, and 75 with DAS28-MR were retrospectively investigated. CDAI and DAS28 for clinical outcomes and the modified total Sharp score (mTSS) for radiographic joint damage were investigated for at least one year.

RESULTS

RAPID3, CDAI, DAS28, and their categories remained unchanged or significantly improved in RAPID3-MR patients but significantly deteriorated in RAPID3-NMR patients. The mean annual ΔmTSS was significantly lower in RAPID3-MR patients (0.12 ± 0.55) than in RAPID3-NMR patients (0.54 ± 1.27) (p = 0.025). There was no significant difference among RAPID3-MR patients, CDAI-MR patients (0.06 ± 0.85), and DAS28-MR patients (0.11 ± 0.89). The baseline mTSS (p = 0.038) and monotherapy with nonbiological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (p = 0.033) were good prognostic factors in RAPID3-MR patients.

CONCLUSIONS

One-year RAPID3 remission maintenance may predict good radiographic outcomes.

Role and mechanism of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 in the development of rheumatoid arthritis

The aim of the present study was to investigate the role and mechanism of vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) in the development of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). One hundred and twenty patients with RA who had been admitted to the Huaihe Hospital of Henan University between January and December 2013 were enrolled in the study as the observation group, while, in the corresponding period, 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled as the control group. The serum levels of VCAM-1 and rheumatoid factor (RF) were detected using ELISA. The patients underwent conventional treatment and their serum VCAM-1 and RF levels were detected at different time-points to determine their correlation. The observation group exhibited significantly higher serum VCAM-1 and RF levels than the control group (P<0.01). Twenty-four hours after treatment, the serum VCAM-1 levels of the patients peaked (1,269.47±128.76 µg/l); 36 h after treatment, the serum RF levels peaked (34.42±8.45 U/ml); 1 month after treatment, the VCAM-1 and serum RF levels of the patients were lower than those prior to treatment (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis indicated that there was a significant, positive correlation between the serum VCAM-1 and RF levels in the patients with RA (r=0.852, P<0.01). In conclusion, the serum VCAM-1 levels of patients with RA increased and subsequently decreased as the condition was relieved, which could possibly be associated with the autoimmune and inflammatory reactions found in RA. Serum VCAM-1 levels can therefore reflect the disease condition and curative effects of treatment.