The EULAR Outcome Measures Library: development and an example from a systematic review for systemic lupus erythematous instruments.

OBJECTIVES: Patient reported outcomes (PROs) are relevant in rheumatology. Variable accessibility and validity of commonly used PROs are obstacles to homogeneity in evidence synthesis. The objective of this project was to provide a comprehensive library of "validated PROs". METHODS: A launch meeting with rheumatologists, PROs methodological experts, and patients, was held to define the library's aims and scope, and basic requirements. To feed the library we performed systematic reviews on selected diseases and domains. Relevant information on PROs was collected using standardised data collection forms based on the COSMIN checklist. RESULTS: The EULAR Outcomes Measures Library (OML), whose aims are to provide and to advise on PROs on a user-friendly manner albeit based on scientific grounds, has been launched and made accessible to all. PROs currently included cover any domain and, are generic or specifically target to the following diseases: rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, spondyloarthritis, low back pain, systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, osteoporosis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and fibromyalgia. Up to 236 instruments (106 generic and 130 specific) have been identified, evaluated, and included. The systematic review for SLE, which yielded 10 specific instruments, is presented here as an example. The OML website includes, for each PRO, information on the construct being measured and the extent of validation, recommendations for use, and available versions; it also contains a glossary on common validation terms. CONCLUSIONS: The OML is an in progress library led by rheumatologists, related professionals and patients, that will help to better understand and apply PROs in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.

Indices to assess patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in clinical trials, long-term observational studies, and clinical care.

This review summarises most currently used indices to assess and monitor patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in clinical trials, long-term observational studies, and clinical care. Six SLE disease activity indices include the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group Index (BILAG), European Consensus Lupus Activity Measurement (ECLAM), Systemic Lupus Activity Measure (SLAM), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI), Lupus Activity Index (LAI), and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Activity Questionnaire (SLAQ). Three SLE responder indices include Responder Index for Lupus Erythematosus (RIFLE), SLE Responder Index (SRI), and BILAG Based Combined Lupus Assessment (BICLA). Three SLE damage indices include the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics/American College of Rheumatology-Damage Index (SLICC/ACE-DI), Lupus Damage Index Questionnaire (LDIQ), and Brief Index of Lupus Damage (BILD). The SLAQ, LDIQ and the BILD are patient self-report questionnaires, which appear to give similar information to physician-completed indices, but are pragmatically more easily completed as patients do almost all the work. Additional self-report indices which have been used to assess and monitor patients with in SLE include a generic general health short form 36 (SF36), a SLE-specific Lupus Patient Reported Outcome (LupusPRO), and a generic rheumatology index, Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3). These activity, response, damage and patient self-report indices have been validated at different levels with no consensus about what it is the most appropriate for every setting. Sensitive and feasible assessment of SLE in clinical trials, observational studies, and busy clinical settings remains a challenge to the rheumatology community.

Long-term prednisone in doses of less than 5 mg/day for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: personal experience over 25 years.

This article summarises the experience of one academic rheumatologist in treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over 25 years from 1980-2004 with low-dose prednisone, most with <5 mg/day over long periods. A database was available which included medications and multidimensional health assessment questionnaire (MDHAQ) scores for physical function, pain, and routine assessment of patient index data (RAPID3), completed by all patients at all visits in the infrastructure of care. Most patients were treated with long-term low-dose prednisone, often from the initial visit and indefinitely, and with methotrexate after 1990. The mean initial prednisone dose declined from 10.3 mg/day in 1980-1984 to 3.6 mg/day in 2000-2004. Although no formal criteria were used to determine the initial dose, prednisone doses were higher in patients who had more severe MDHAQ/RAPID3 scores, as expected, reflecting confounding by indication. Similar improvements were seen in clinical status over 12 months in patients treated with <5 vs. ≥ 5 mg/day prednisone, and maintained for >8 years. Adverse effects were primarily bruising and skin-thinning, with low levels of hypertension, diabetes, and cataracts, although this information was based only on self-report rather than systematic assessment by a health professional. These data reflect limitations of observational data. However, a consecutive patient database may provide long-term information not available from clinical trials. The data document that prednisone at doses <5 mg/day over long periods appears acceptable and effective for many patients with RA at this time. Further clinical trials and long-term observational studies are needed to develop optimal treatment strategies for patients with RA with low-dose prednisone.

Association between myasthaenia gravis and systemic lupus erythematosus: three case reports and review of the literature.

The coexistence of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and myasthaenia gravis (MG) has been reported previously. Because of their shared clinical characteristics and autoantibody-mediated pathogenesis, an SLE expert panel decided to include MG as one of the 19 neuropsychiatric SLE syndromes. This study reports a cluster of three cases of SLE/MG overlap from our cohort and a review of the published data concerning this overlap of SLE and MG. A systematic Medline review revealed 13 cases described in eight publications from 1994 to 2009. In summary, 12 of the 16 patients (three from our cohort and 13 from the reported cases) were women with an average age of 34 years. The most common SLE manifestations were polyarthritis (15 out of 16 patients), skin rashes (5/16), serositis (5/16), and cytopaenias (10/16). All of the patients were anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA) positive and 15/16 were anti-dsDNA positive. Proximal muscle weakness was the most frequent MG-related symptom (9/16), while 11/16 patients were anti-acetylcholine receptor (anti-AChR) antibody positive and 9/16 had diagnostic electromyography (EMG). These data suggest that MG should to be included in the differential diagnosis of lupus patients with fatigue and muscular weakness together with inflammatory and drug-induced myopathy.

Multinational evidence-based recommendations on how to investigate and follow-up undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis: integrating systematic literature research and expert opinion of a broad international panel of rheumatologists in the 3E Initiative.

OBJECTIVE: To develop evidence-based recommendations on how to investigate and follow-up undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis (UPIA). METHODS: 697 rheumatologists from 17 countries participated in the 3E (Evidence, Expertise, Exchange) Initiative of 2008-9 consisting of three separate rounds of discussions and modified Delphi votes. In the first round 10 clinical questions were selected. A bibliographic team systematically searched Medline, Embase, the Cochrane Library and ACR/EULAR 2007-2008 meeting abstracts. Relevant articles were reviewed for quality assessment, data extraction and synthesis. In the second round each country elaborated a set of national recommendations. Finally, multinational recommendations were formulated and agreement among the participants and the potential impact on their clinical practice was assessed. RESULTS: A total of 39,756 references were identified, of which 250 were systematically reviewed. Ten multinational key recommendations about the investigation and follow-up of UPIA were formulated. One recommendation addressed differential diagnosis and investigations prior to establishing the operational diagnosis of UPIA, seven recommendations related to the diagnostic and prognostic value of clinical and laboratory assessments in established UPIA (history and physical examination, acute phase reactants, autoantibodies, radiographs, MRI and ultrasound, genetic markers and synovial biopsy), one recommendation highlighted predictors of persistence (chronicity) and the final recommendation addressed monitoring of clinical disease activity in UPIA. CONCLUSIONS: Ten recommendations on how to investigate and follow-up UPIA in the clinical setting were developed. They are evidence-based and supported by a large panel of rheumatologists, thus enhancing their validity and practical use.

Are the C-reactive protein values and erythrocyte sedimentation rate equivalent when estimating the 28-joint disease activity score in rheumatoid arthritis?

UNLABELLED: A formula for calculating disease activity score with 28 joint counts (DAS28) with C-reactive protein (CRP) instead of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) has been proposed. OBJECTIVE: Here we analyze the factors that contribute to the differences in the DAS28 when calculated using either the ESR (DAS28-ESR) or the CRP values (DAS28-CRP). METHODS: We analyzed the data from 587 visits made by 220 patients with early arthritis. The age at the onset of the disease was 51+/-16 years old and 76.3% of the patients were women. The disease evolution at the first visit was 5 months and at each visit information related to several variables was collected, including that necessary to calculate the DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP. We defined a new variable DIFDAS=DAS28-ESR-DAS28-CRP to analyze which independent variables account for differences between the two indexes. RESULTS: There was a correlation between the two indexes of 0.91 (p<0.0001), although the DAS28-ESR value obtained was higher than that of DAS28-CRP at approximately 90% of the visits. Significantly, the difference between both indexes was higher than 0.6 in 44% of the visits studied. A multivariate analysis showed that female gender and disease duration were associated with the higher values obtained for DAS28-ESR when compared to those of DAS28-CRP. CONCLUSION: Our data show that DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP are not fully equivalent, because the former usually produces higher values. This finding is particularly relevant in females and patients with a long disease duration.