title: Rheumatology function tests: grip strength, walking time, button test and questionnaires document and predict longterm morbidity and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: Four quantitative measures of functional status, grip strength, walking time, the button test, and a questionnaire regarding activities of daily living, were assessed nine years apart in 75 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). After 9 years, 20 patients had died; none were lost to followup. Functional status had declined in more than 80% of patients according to each of the 4 measures, and patients with poor values at baseline were most likely to die over the next 5 years, as reported. We report that baseline values of these measures of functional status were predictive of values 9 years later. These measures may be regarded as "rheumatology function tests" to document and predict morbidity and mortality in RA over long periods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN 37232.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pincus
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Callahan
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D009017:Morbidity; D009132:Muscles / Q000502:physiology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016138:Walking