title: Comparison of three classification criteria of rheumatoid arthritis in an inception early arthritis cohort.
abstract: The aim of this study is to compare the three classification criteria for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a large cohort of early arthritis patients. Patients who had at least one clinically swollen joint with disease duration no more than 1 year and age more than 18 years were enrolled. The clinical and laboratory parameters were recorded. The patients were diagnosed by two experienced rheumatologists. Undiagnosed patients were followed up every 3 months until 1 year. The sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value were compared among the early RA (ERA) criteria, the 1987 ACR criteria, and the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria in this inception cohort of early arthritis patients. A total of 417 patients with inflammatory arthritis were recruited. By the end of 1 year follow-up, there were 399 patients (95.7 %) with a definitive diagnosis and 18 (4.3 %) patients remained as undifferentiated arthritis. Among the patients with definitive diagnosis, 202 (50.6 %) patients were diagnosed with RA and 197 (49.4 %) with non-RA. The sensitivity of ERA criteria was equal to 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria (both were 72.3 %), but much higher than 1987 ACR criteria (72.3 vs. 39.1 %, P < 0.001); the specificity of ERA criteria was comparable to 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria (87.8 vs. 83.2 %) and slightly lower than 1987 ACR criteria (87.8 vs. 92.4 %, P < 0.001). Unlike the complicated scoring system of 2010 criteria, the ERA criteria were more feasible to use in practice with five criteria only. The ERA criteria have a high sensitivity and more clinically feasibility in daily practice for early RA diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South St., Beijing, 100044, China.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South St., Beijing, 100044, China. suyin0921@163.com.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South St., Beijing, 100044, China.
authors.forename: Ru
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jinxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiangyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Yifang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mei
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China.
authors.forename: Zhiyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Jialong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
authors.forename: Liqi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guochun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jinjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Leng
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology of the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology of the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yongfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Guang An Men Hospital of Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology & Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital, 11 Xizhimen South St., Beijing, 100044, China. li99@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Zhanguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods
keywords: Arthritis; Classification criteria; Early; Rheumatoid