Using Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index-5 questionnaire in the assessment of disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: correlation with quality of life, pain, and functional status

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of our study was to assess the disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index-5 (RADAI-5) questionnaire and to find its correlation with Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS28), quality of life, pain, and functional status.Patients and methodsA total of 40 patients with RA were included. Quality of life was evaluated by Quality of Life–Rheumatoid Arthritis scale. The severity of pain was measured by 100-mm visual analog scale-pain. Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index was used to evaluate functional status. Disease activity was measured by using the DAS28 and RADAI-5.ResultsMean RADAI-5 score was 4.2±1.7 (moderate disease activity). A total of seven (17.5%) patients were in remission, four (10%) patients had mild disease activity, 19 (47.5%) patients had moderate disease activity, and 10 (25%) patients had high disease activity. RADAI-5 was significantly correlated with DAS28, quality of life scale, pain scale, and functional status (r=0.9, P<0.001; r=0.9, P<0.001; r=0.4, P=0.02; and r=0.6, P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, RADAI-5 was found to be significantly correlated with morning stiffness duration, Ritchie articular index, tender 28-joint count, swollen 28-joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anticyclic citrullinated peptide, and rheumatoid factor positivity (r=0.3, P=0.03; r=0.8, P<0.001; r=0.9, P<0.001; r=0.7, P<0.001; r=0.6, P<0.001; r=0.6, P<0.001; and r=0.4, P=0.008, respectively).ConclusionRADAI-5 is a simple and low-cost self-report questionnaire that reflects patients’ perception of signs and symptoms. The correlations of RADAI-5 with DAS28, quality of life, pain, and functional status reflect its value in the assessment of disease activity in patients with RA.