Deriving an operational definition of low disease activity state in rheumatoid arthritis.

  • 1 May 2003
    • journal article
    • review article
    • Vol. 30  (5) , 1112-4
Abstract
This article summarizes the process proposed to come to a definition of low disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The purpose of this definition is to aid the interpretation of trial and longitudinal study results. A conceptual proposal is "a disease activity state that is deemed a useful treatment target by both physicians and patients." An operant definition can be derived by judgmental (opinion-based) or statistical (data-based) approaches, but the first seems more appropriate. Once a few candidate definitions have been selected, their usefulness and prognostic validity can be tested in longitudinal datasets.

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