Page 159 - THE EVOLUTION OF EARLY ARTHRITIS AND CARDIOVASCULAR RISK Samina A. Turk

DO PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS IN REMISSION FEEL NORMAL AGAIN?
of 28 joints (DAS28) (13). Finally, both CRP and erythrocyte sedimentation rate were determined.
• Remission
Remission was measured in two ways: 1) patient perceived remission in patients answering ‘yes’ to the question “Would you say that, at this moment, your disease activity is as good as gone?”. This definition was developed during our work on the patient perspective on remission in close collaboration with patient research partners (4); 2) ACR/EULAR Boolean-based definition of remission (2).
Figure 1. Normality scale
Item A. Original (English)
1. On most days, I don’t think about my arthritis
2. My life is not normal now that I live with RA
3. I socialise as much as someone without arthritis
4. I sleep as well as before symptoms of my RA started
5. I have maintained my normal life since I was diagnosed with RA
6. When I am well, my life is relatively normal
7. I have as much energy as someone my age without arthritis
The items are scored with a 5-point Likert scale. Items 1 and 3-7 are scored as 1= strongly
disagree / helemaal mee oneens, 2= partially disagree / een beetje mee oneens, 3= neither
agree or disagree / niet mee eens, niet mee oneens, 4= partially agree / een beetje mee eens,
5= strongly agree / helemaal mee eens. Item 2 is scored in reverse with 1= strongly agree /
helemaal mee eens, 2= partially agree / een beetje mee eens, 3= neither agree or disagree / 8 niet mee eens, niet mee oneens, 4= partially disagree / een beetje mee oneens, 5= strongly
B. Dutch translation
Op de meeste dagen denk ik niet aan mijn reuma
Mijn leven is niet normaal nu dat ik reuma heb
Mijn sociale leven is hetzelfde als dat van iemand zonder reuma
Ik slaap even goed als voordat mijn reuma-klachten begonnen
Ik heb mijn normale leven behouden sinds ik de diagnose reuma kreeg
Wanneer het goed met me gaat is mijn leven redelijk normaal
Ik heb evenveel energie als iemand van mijn leeftijd zonder reuma
disagree / helemaal mee oneens. The scale can be used free of charge.
Statistical analyses
Descriptive statistics summarized patient characteristics: mean ± standard deviation, median [25th and 75th percentile], and frequency (percentage) where appropriate. The normality scale items were examined both as total score and individually (by calculating mean item scores). Paired t-tests compared changes over time in the total study population, and after stratification for being in remission or not. Linear regression assessed the unadjusted relationship between normality (dependent) and remission (independent variable). McNemar tests assessed concordance between patient self- reported remission and the ACR/EULAR Boolean based remission definition. P-values
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