EVALUATION OF A STRUCTURED MULTIDISCIPLINARY DAY-CARE PROGRAM IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - A SIMILAR EFFECT IN NEWLY-DIAGNOSED AND LONG-STANDING DISEASE

The present study evaluated a multidisciplinary structured day-care pr ogramme in patients with rheumatoid arthritis of less than 2 years (n = 41) and more than 2 years disease duration (n = 46). During the 3 we ek intervention, outcome measures reflecting disability (HAQ, SOFI), t he patient's perception of disease and pain (VAS for patient's global assessment and pain), Ritchie articular index (RAI), a 44 swollen join t count, and overall disease activity (DAS) improved significantly in the group as a whole. The improvements remained significant after 15 w eeks and were of a similar magnitude in the patient groups with short and long disease duration. At week 3 and 15, the ACR and the EULAR cri teria for individual response. for the total study group was fulfilled by 28% and 26%, and 36% and 52% respectively. Evaluation of a subgrou p 6 weeks prior to admission indicated that the outcome measures were stable at the time of the intervention. Furthermore, administration of intraarticular glucocorticosteroids (GC) could only partly explain th e observed improvement. This uncontrolled observational study supports that a multidisciplinary day-care rehabilitation program is beneficia l and feasible for patients with rheumatoid arthritis of both short an d long duration.