title: Comparison of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism and the 1987 American Rheumatism Association classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis in an early arthritis cohort in New Zealand.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the performance of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) criteria with the 1987 American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in an early arthritis cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 79 patients with early arthritis (symptoms < 12 months) and a minimum of 1 year of followup between January 2004 and August 2010. Case notes were reviewed to determine which criteria were fulfilled at initial, 3-month, 1-year, and 2-year visits. Requirements for disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy and presence of joint erosions were compared at 2 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At the initial visit, twice as many patients fulfilled the 2010 criteria (67%) compared with the 1987 criteria (34%; p < 0.001). Forty-four percent of patients who fulfilled only the 2010 criteria at the initial visit went on to fulfill both 1987 and 2010 criteria at 3 months (p < 0.001). Eight patients did not meet the 1987 RA criteria solely because of short symptom duration. All 17/79 patients who developed joint erosions went on to eventually fulfill both criteria. Of those patients who fulfilled only the 2010 criteria at baseline, 25/27 (93%) ultimately received DMARD therapy compared with 24/26 (92%) of those fulfilling both 1987 and 2010 criteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The 2010 ACR/EULAR RA criteria allowed earlier RA classification compared to the 1987 ARA criteria, although both criteria were equivalent in predicting joint erosions and subsequent need for DMARD (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ANZCTR 12608000292370).
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy, Christchurch Hospital, and the Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand. rafi@rocketmail.com
authors.forename: Rafi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raja
authors.forename: Peter T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ipenburg
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Frampton
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.forename: Lisa K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Stamp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D001175:Arthrography; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012955:Societies, Medical; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents