title: Disease activity score in rheumatoid arthritis with or without secondary fibromyalgia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To correlate disease activity score (DAS-28) in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with and without secondary fibromyalgia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comparative cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Department of Rheumatology, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad, from November 2011 to April 2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients aged above 16 years diagnosed to have rheumatoid arthritis according to ACR/EULAR criteria 2010 were included in the study. Fibromyalgia (FM) was diagnosed by ACR 1990 criteria. Patients of other autoimmune diseases or psychiatric illnesses were excluded. DAS was determined and compared using t-test with significance at p < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of study subjects was 42.9 years. Thirty one out of total 138 patients had fibromyalgia (22.4%). Female gender was predominant (92.0%); being 96.8% in patients with and in 88.2% without fibromyalgia. The average DAS score was high (5.3 + 1.5) in fibromyalgia patients compared to those without fibromyalgia (3.9 + 1.2); this difference in mean value was statistically significant (p = < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DAS-28 is a useful tool for assessing rheumatoid arthritis disease status in outpatient setting, however, increased disease activity must be assessed for possible co-existence of fibromyalgia which can spuriously give high DAS value and adversely affect treatment decision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. shaziazammurrad@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Shazia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zammurrad
authors.forename: Wajahat
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Munir
authors.forename: Abid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farooqi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010154:Pakistan; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents