USE OF THE STOKE INDEX TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN DISEASE-MODIFYING AGENTS AND NONSTEROIDAL ANTIINFLAMMATORY DRUGS IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS

The Stoke Index is a validated composite algorithm that has been desig ned to give a global measure of disease activity in rheumatoid arthrit is (RA). The use of this single measure of disease activity in RA simp lifies the critical evaluation of drug therapy. 368 patients with RA o f varying duration and severity, entered into comparative drug trials between 1980 and 1987, had the algorithm calculated four weeks prior t o therapy, at the start of treatment, and bi-monthly to six months. Th e index score was significantly improved by drugs with known slow acti ng anti-rheumatic drug (SAARD) activity and improvement could be seen as early as two months after the beginning of treatment. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) did not improve the score. The index differentiates between treatments in patients with minor or major dis ease activity. We conclude that this composite index of disease activi ty provides a sensitive, meaningful measure for the evaluation of ther apy in PA.