The rapid assessment of disease activity in rheumatology (radar) questionnaire. Validity and sensitivity to change of a patient self-report measure of joint count and clinical status.
OBJECTIVE
This study documents the measurement properties of a brief, self-administered questionnaire of disease signs and symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.


METHODS
The Rapid Assessment of Disease Activity in Rheumatology (RADAR) questionnaire assesses joint pain/tenderness and clinical status. One hundred ninety-three pairs of RADAR forms were completed by 45 subjects and their assigned clinician evaluators.


RESULTS
Subject-clinician agreement (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC]) for joint pain/tenderness and clinical status ranged from 0.52 to 0.87 (P = 0.0001), with 83% greater than or equal to 0.65. The ICC for change in joint scores over 6 months was 0.83 (P = 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
The 2-page RADAR questionnaire produces valid estimates of joint count and clinical status that are sensitive to change.
Mason
J H
JH
Arthritis Center, Boston University School of Medicine, Massachusetts.
Anderson
J J
JJ
Meenan
R F
RF
Haralson
K M
KM
Lewis-Stevens
D
D
Kaine
J L
JL
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010808:Physical Examination; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires