ABSTRACT
Functional status questionnaires are being used in various types of studies. To determine factors related to self-reported functional ability for rheumatoid arthritis patients, we examined the relationship between a functional and mental health questionnaire and objective disease-specific measures. Using 3-5 predictor variables, we explained 43-57% of the variance in patients' self-reported functioning. Mental and physical health perceptions were significant predictors for each self-reported functional measure. The relationships among mental health and self-reported functioning should be considered when interpreting studies that use functional status questionnaires.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/physiopathology , Disability Evaluation , Self Concept , Activities of Daily Living , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/psychology , Humans , Joints/pathology , Joints/physiopathology , Locomotion , Mental Health , Movement , Pain , Statistics as Topic , Surveys and Questionnaires , Time FactorsABSTRACT
Are walk time and grip strength measures of disease activity or functional ability? Ninety-two patients with rheumatoid arthritis were examined initially and 12 months later for clinical measures including joint deformity, and answered a functional status questionnaire. Walk time and grip strength were strongly related to joint deformity and functional questionnaire measures, and appeared insensitive in showing changes in disease activity over time. They could serve as objective functional measures in studies primarily directed towards changing functional ability, but appeared to be poor major outcome measures for trials aimed at altering disease activity.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/physiopathology , Hand/physiopathology , Locomotion , Muscle Contraction , Activities of Daily Living , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/drug therapy , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/pathology , Female , Humans , Joints/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Time FactorsABSTRACT
For 1 year we obtained questionnaire and clinical measures from 2 cohorts of rheumatoid arthritis patients: 49 experimental patients who were admitted for an average of 13 days to a university-based rheumatology rehabilitation unit, and 43 control patients who received care from rheumatologists associated with another teaching hospital. At 1 year, after controlling for groups differences, the experimental patients demonstrated significant (P less than 0.05) improvement compared with control patients in several functional status, mental health, and disease activity measures.
