DEVELOPMENT AND PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF A SIMPLE MEASURE OF OVERALLSTATUS IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS (OSRA) FOR ROUTINE CLINICAL USE

We describe the development and initial assessment of a simple measure of overall status in rheumatoid arthritis (OSRA) for use in the routi ne clinical setting. The measure is constructed in four parts: demogra phic details, activity score, damage score and treatment category. It requires no laboratory tests and uses details collected routinely duri ng a clinic visit. It was validated in a series of 488 patients. The m easure proved acceptable and demonstrated face, content, construct and discriminant validity. OSRA wilt be useful as an audit tool in the se rial follow-up of RA patients and in describing the characteristics of a population of such patients.