DISCORDANCE BETWEEN OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF FUNCTIONAL ABLITY OF PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

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Abstract
The objective were to investigate whether ther is a discordance between observed and reported functional ability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) as measured by the Health Assesment Questionnaire (HAQ) and, if so, Which demographic, Clinical and psychological factors contribute to thet discordance. Fifty-one consectutive RA patients of the out-patient cklinic were included. Self-reported functional ability was comapred with the observed performance of tasks as described by the HAQ. The amount of discordance was computed by subtracting reported score from the observed stores . A positive sign stands for overestimation of functional ability by the patient. The average amount of discordance was low, 0.09 (S.D. 0.39), but showed a large range: −0.88 to 1.00. Multiple regression analysis showed that mal;e patients overestimate thier functional ability by 0.21 HAQ units compared with female patients. RA patients overestimated thier functional ability with increasing diesease suration and severity. While RAA patients in the early stage of the disease tend to underestimate thier functional ability.

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