Table 3.
Rheumatoid Arthritis Flare Questionnaire scores by flare status at 2 consecutive visits using 3 definitions of flare.
| Flare Definition | Flare | No Flare | Mean V2 Difference (95% CI) | Effect Size† | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| V1 | V2 | V1 | V2 | |||
| CATCH (observational) | ||||||
| PRF* | 13.4 | 22.5 | 9.8 | 8.5 | 14.0 (11.4–16.5) | 1.39 |
| PRF + severity + duration** | 16.6 | 29.0 | 9.9 | 9.4 | 19.6 (16.7–22.6) | 1.95 |
| DAS28 flare criteria*** | 11.8 | 26.8 | 10.0 | 9.3 | 17.5 (13.6–21.5) | 1.73 |
| DRESS (RCT) | ||||||
| PRF* | 17.4 | 22.4 | 11.6 | 12.2 | 10.2 (5.6–14.8) | 1.10 |
| PRF + severity + duration** | 16.7 | 31.3 | 12.2 | 12.9 | 18.3 (8.9–27.8) | 1.10 |
| DAS28 flare criteria*** | 18.7 | 24.6 | 11.6 | 12.2 | 12.4 (7.7–17.2) | 1.37 |
| STPR (observational) | ||||||
| PRF* | 17.5 | 22.7 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 9.6 (3.6–15.6) | 1.10 |
| PRF + severity + duration** | 17.1 | 25.3 | 13.3 | 13.7 | 11.5 (2.3–20.8) | 1.30 |
| DAS28 flare criteria*** | 16.5 | 20.5 | 13.9 | 13.2 | 7.3 (1.4–13.2) | 0.82 |
†
Cohen d statistic.
*
Patients answered “yes” to the question “Are you having a flare at this time?”
**
PRF AND patient-rated severity > 4/10 AND reported duration > 7 days.
***
Required increase in DAS28 > 1.2 or > 0.6 if DAS at previous visit was ≥ 3.2.
V1: visit 1; V2: visit 2; CATCH: Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort; PRF: patient-reported flare; DAS28: Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; DRESS: Dose Reduction Strategy of Subcutaneous TNF Inhibitors in Rheumatoid Arthritis; RCT: randomized controlled trial; STPR: Strategy of Treatment in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.