CORRELATES OF FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY IN EARLY RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - ACROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF 706 PATIENTS IN 4 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

In this cross-sectional study of 706 European patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of less than or equal to 4 yr duration, we examined po ssible correlates of functional disability assessed by the Health Asse ssment Questionnaire. First, we examined a subsample of 237 Norwegian patients. The Ritchie index: sex, age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and disease duration correlated significantly with disability, w hereas serum rheumatoid factor, hand X-ray changes and educational lev el did not. Subsequently, we cross-validated these findings in a simil ar sample of 469 French, Dutch and Northern Irish patients. The result s supported the Ritchie index, sex, ESR and disease duration as signif icant correlates of disability, whereas rheumatoid factor, age and edu cation were not significantly correlated with disability. The correlat ion between X-ray changes and disability could not be cross-validated. The main findings of this study are that female sex correlates signif icantly with disability even early in the course of RA, whereas the rh eumatoid factor does not.