Lm. Smedstad et al., CORRELATES OF FUNCTIONAL DISABILITY IN EARLY RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - ACROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY OF 706 PATIENTS IN 4 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, British journal of rheumatology, 35(8), 1996, pp. 746-751
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.