title: Management of rheumatoid arthritis in Spain (emAR II). Clinical characteristics of the patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a wide variability in the diagnostic and therapeutic methods in rheumatoid arthritis (AR) in Spain, according to prior studies. The quality of care could benefit from the application of appropriate clinical practice standards; we present a study on the variability of clinical practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive review of clinical records (CR) of patients aged 16 or older diagnosed with RA, selected by stratified sampling of the Autonomous Communities in two stages per Hospital Center and patient. Collected analysis of sociodemographic data, evolution, follow-up, joint count, reactants, function, job history, Visual Analogue Scales (VAS) and other.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We obtained valid information of 1,272 RA patients. The ESR, CRP and rheumatoid factor (RF) were regularly used parameters. The percentages of missing data in tender (TJN) and swollen (SJN) joint counts were 8.2% and 9.6% respectively; regarding the VAS we found 53.6% (patient), 59.1% (pain), and 72% in the physician VAS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite having clinical practice guidelines on RA, there still exists a significant variability in RA management in our country.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Trabajo de Reumatología Basada en la Evidencia, Sociedad Española de Reumatología, Madrid, Spain. jmaesem@medynet.com
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maese
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: García De Yébenes
authors.forename: Loreto
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Cesar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández-García
mesh_terms: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D000368:Aged; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019468:Disease Management; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic / Q000097:blood; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000379:methods*; D018401:Sample Size; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013030:Spain / Q000453:epidemiology; D063189:Symptom Assessment
chemical_list: D000209:Acute-Phase Proteins; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D010456:Peptides, Cyclic; C487763:cyclic citrullinated peptide; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor