Are clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis generalizable to routine practice? A re-evaluation of trial entry criteria (original) (raw)

2005, Rheumatology (Oxford, England)

Trials of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) enrol active rheumatoid arthritis patients identified using standard criteria (three out of four of: >/=6 tender joints, >/=6 swollen joints, ESR >/= 28 mm/h, >/=45 min morning stiffness). Concern has been expressed about generalizability, as many patients in routine practice have less active disease. Furthermore, these criteria do not map onto standard disease activity and treatment response measures. We examined how many routine patients were sufficiently active to meet trial recruitment criteria and whether alternative definitions of active disease were more appropriate. We studied 504 patients in a cross-sectional study, 156 in a longitudinal study and 94 starting new DMARDs or biologics. Patients were classified as 'trial active' (met entry criteria), in remission or 'intermediately active' (between the two). We also evaluated the effect of amendments to criteria. Cross-sectionally only 38% pa...