CORRELATES OF PATIENTS GLOBAL ASSESSMENT OF ARTHRITIS IMPACT - A 2-YEAR STUDY OF 216 PATIENTS WITH RA

Considering the key position of patients' global assessment in clinica l practice and research, we wanted to examine the relationships betwee n patients' global assessment and biological, functional, and mental v ariables, and to explore the relative contribution of these variables on patients' assessment of arthritis impact. Patients with RA of less than or equal to 4 yrs duration were examined at baseline (n=238) and after 12 and 24 months (n=216). Study variables were tender joints, ES R, CRP, hand X-ray abnormalities and self-reported global arthritis im pact, pain, disability, and symptoms of depression. 2-yr mean scores w ere computed for all variables. Strong correlations were found between patients' global assessment and pain (r=.73), depression (r=.68), dis ability (r=.64), and tender joints (r=.51), while ESR, CRP, and X-ray abnormalities correlated weakly with the global assessment. Using a mu ltivariate approach, however, the relative effects of disability and t ender joints were no longer statistically significant, whereas pain an d depression still had significant impact on patients' global assessme nts.