title: Clinical and ultrasound-based composite disease activity indices in rheumatoid arthritis: results from a multicenter, randomized study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the metrologic properties of composite disease activity indices in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), utilizing information derived from clinical, gray-scale (GS), and power Doppler (PD) ultrasound examinations, and to assess the classification of patients according to disease activity using such indices.
  
  
  METHODS
  This ancillary study utilized data from a multicenter, prospective, randomized, parallel-group study conducted in subjects with moderate RA randomized to receive etanercept and methotrexate (ETN + MTX) or usual care (various disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs [DMARDs]). In multimodal indices, the 28 swollen joint count was either supplemented or replaced by clinically nonswollen joints in which the presence of synovitis was detected either by GS and/or PD and was calculated according to the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) or the Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI). Reliability, external validity, and discriminative capacity were calculated at baseline/screening by intraclass correlation coefficient, Pearson's correlation, and standardized response mean, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 62 patients (mean ± SD age 53.8 ± 13.2 years, mean ± SD disease duration 8.8 ± 7.7 years, mean ± SD disease activity 4.6 ± 0.5 [DAS28] and 20.9 ± 5.9 [SDAI]) were analyzed, with 32 receiving ETN + MTX and 30 receiving DMARDs. The metrologic properties were at least as good for GS- and/or PD-based indices as for their clinical counterparts. Using GS- and PD-supplemented indices, an additional 67.8% and 32.3% of patients (DAS28-derived and SDAI-derived indices, respectively) could be classified as having high disease activity at the screening visit.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Multimodal indices incorporating ultrasound and clinical data had similar metrologic properties to their clinical counterparts; certain indices allowed for a significantly larger number of patients to be classified to either high or moderate disease activity at the screening visit.
authors.affiliation: Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mandl
authors.forename: P V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Balint
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Brault
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Backhaus
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: D'Agostino
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: van der Heijde
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Miguel
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Logeart
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dougados
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D000068800:Etanercept; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010808:Physical Examination; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D000068800:Etanercept; D008727:Methotrexate