International audienceSelf-assessment of disease activity is feasible in rheumatoid arthritis, but its frequency decreases over time

Balandraud, Nathalie

Beauvais, Catherine

Chary-Valckenaere, Isabelle

Dernis, Emmanuelle

Dougados, Maxime

Euller-Ziegler, Liana

Fayet, Françoise

Flipo, René-Marc

Foissac, Frantz

Gilson, Mélanie

Gossec, Laure

Marhadour, Thierry

Mariette, Xavier

Moltó, Anna

Mouterde, Gaël

Perdriger, Aleth

Pouplin, Sophie

Richette, Pascal

Ruyssen-Witrand, Adeline

Schaeverbeke, Thierry

Sordet, Christelle

Soubrier, Martin

HAL-Université de Bretagne Occidentale

Is self-assessment by patients of disease activity acceptable over the long term in rheumatoid arthritis? A 3-year follow-up of 771 patients

Molto, Anna

HAL Descartes

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Is self-assessment by patients of disease activity
acceptable over the long term in rheumatoid arthritis?
A 3-year follow-up of 771 patients
Laure Gossec, Françoise Fayet, Martin Soubrier, Frantz Foissac, Anna Moltó,
Pascal Richette, Catherine Beauvais, Adeline Ruyssen-Witrand, Aleth
Perdriger, Isabelle Chary-Valckenaere, et al.
To cite this version:
Laure Gossec, Françoise Fayet, Martin Soubrier, Frantz Foissac, Anna Moltó, et al.. Is self-assessment
by patients of disease activity acceptable over the long term in rheumatoid arthritis? A 3-year follow-
up of 771 patients. Rheumatology, Oxford University Press (OUP), In press, ￿10.1093/rheumatol-
ogy/kez094￿. ￿hal-02167073￿
1 
Is self-assessment by patients of disease activity acceptable over the long term in 
rheumatoid arthritis? A 3-year follow-up of 771 patients 
Laure Gossec1,2, Françoise Fayet3, Martin Soubrier3, Frantz Foissac4,5, Anna Molto6,7, Pascal 
Richette8, Catherine Beauvais9, Adeline Ruyssen-Witrand10, Aleth Perdriger11, Isabelle 
Chary-Valckenaere12, Gaël Mouterde13, Emmanuelle Dernis14, Liana Euller-Ziegler15, René-
Marc Flipo16, Mélanie Gilson17, Nathalie Balandraud18, Xavier Mariette19, Sophie Pouplin20, 
Thierry Marhadour21, Thierry Schaeverbeke22, Christelle Sordet23 Maxime Dougados6,7 
1Sorbonne Université, Institut Pierre Louis d'Epidémiologie et de Santé Publique (iPLESP), INSERM 
UMR S 1136, Paris France. 2Rheumatology department, Pitié Salpêtrière hospital, APHP, Paris, 
France. 3Department of Rheumatology, CHU Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Ferrand, France. 4Clinical 
Research Unit Necker-Cochin, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris, France. , 
5EA7323,University Paris Descartes, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France, 6Rheumatology Department, 
Cochin Hospital, AP-HP, Paris, France. 7INSERM (U1153), Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, 
PRES Sorbonne Paris-Cité, Paris Descartes University, Paris, France. 8 UFR médicale, Université 
Paris Diderot, Paris, France; Fédération de Rhumatologie, APHP Hôpital Lariboisiére, Paris, France. 
9Sorbonne Université, INSERM UMRS938, Paris France; Rheumatology department, St-Antoine 
Hospital, AP-HP, DHU i2B, Paris, France. 10UMR 1027 Inserm, Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, 
France. 11Department of Rheumatology, South Hospital, Medecine Faculty, Rennes 1 
University, Rennes, France. 12Department of Rheumatology, Nancy University Hospital, Vandoeuvre-
Les-Nancy, France. 13Rheumatology department, Montpellier Hospital, Univ Montpellier, Montpellier, 
France. 14Department of Rheumatology, Le Mans Hospital, Le Mans, France. 15Department of 
Rheumatology, Hôpital Pasteur 2, Nice, France. 16Department of Rheumatology, CHU Roger Salengro 
Hospital, University of Lille 2, Lille, France. 17Department of Rheumatology, Grenoble-Alpes University 
Hospital, Echirolles, France. 18Department of Rheumatology, Marseille University Hospital, Marseille, 
France. 19Department of Rheumatology, AP-HP, Hôpitaux Universitaires Paris-Sud, Université Paris-
Sud, INSERM UMR1184, Le Kremlin-Bicetre, France. 20Department of Rheumatology, Rouen 
Hospital, Rouen, France. 21Department of Rheumatology, CHU de la Cavale Blanche, Boulevard 
Tanguy Prigent, Brest, France ; INSERM 1227, Université Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France. 
22Department of Rheumatology, Pellegrin Hospital, Bordeaux University, CNRS 5164, Bordeaux, 
France. 23Department of Rheumatology, Hautepierre Hospital, Hopitaux Universitaire de Strasbourg, 
Fédération de médecine translationnelle, UMR INSERM 1109, Strasbourg, France 
Corresponding author 
Laure GOSSEC, Hôpital Pitié- Salpêtrière, Service de Rhumatologie, 47-83 bd de l’hôpital, 
75013 PARIS France. Email : laure.gossec@gmail.com 
Disclosures: No relevant disclosures for this study.  
Funding: This work was supported by a grant from the French Ministry of Health (PHRC 
AOM 12072) and sponsored by Assistance Publique–Hôpitaux de Paris. 
Key message: Self-assessment of disease activity is feasible in rheumatoid arthritis, but its 
frequency decreases over time. 
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Sir, 
In rheumatoid arthritis (RA), regular assessment of disease activity is an integral part of a 
treat-to-target approach.[1] However, repeated, close-in-time consultations with the 
rheumatologist are not always feasible. In the Comorbidities and Education in Rheumatoid 
Arthritis (COMEDRA) trial, RA patients were trained to perform a self-assessment of Disease 
Activity Score on 28 joints (DAS28), termed auto-DAS (they were randomised to have this 
visit either at baseline, or after 6 months).[2] At the 6-month timepoint, the COMEDRA trial 
showed the feasibility of auto-DAS, and we found more therapeutic changes had been made 
in the auto-DAS arm.[2] The present letter reports the results of the open-label follow-up of 
this trial, after 3 years. The objective was to assess the feasibility over the long-term of auto-
DAS assessment, and determine the characteristics of patients adherent to auto-DAS. 
This was an open long-term (2-4 years) extension of the 6 month randomized controlled 
COMEDRA trial of patients with definite, stable RA. Ethical approval (ethical committee CPP Ile 
de France VI, number 8-14) and informed patient consent were obtained.  During a nurse visit, 
the importance of regular disease activity assessment was explained, as well as the principle 
of the DAS28. Patients were trained by a nurse to perform auto-DAS, using a video and 
teaching of self-assessment of joints (the training took approximately 30 minutes). It was 
suggested to them to perform this self-assessment regularly and to note it in a booklet. In the 
present follow-up, 2-4 years after the end of the trial, patients were seen in a face-to-face 
interview with a nurse and the frequency of auto-DAS was assessed through the auto-DAS 
booklet (N=247) and if unavailable, from patient questioning. Adherence to auto-DAS was 
defined as the performance of at least one auto-DAS more than 6 months after the end of the 
trial. Characteristics of adherent versus non adherent patients were compared by univariate 
and multivariate logistic regression analyses and included demographic and disease activity 
variables as well as the centre, according to its recruitment in the trial (centres were 
binarised as higher or lower than median inclusion number). 
Of the 970 recruited patients, 771 (79.5%) were followed up 3 years and had available data 
regarding auto-DAS: mean (±standard deviation) age 61 (±11) years, median [interquartile 
range, IQR] disease duration 15 [9 - 23] years; 615 (80%) were women and 534 (69%) were 
currently taking a biologic. There were no notable differences between those followed-
up or not (data not shown). The mean baseline and 3-year DAS28 scores (calculated by 
the health professionals) were respectively 3.1±1.3 and 2.8±1.4, the mean mHAQ was 0.38 
(±0.45). The inter-rater reliability (measured by intraclass correlation coefficient) of DAS28 
between health professional and patient was 0.50 [95% confidence interval 0.43-0.56] at 
baseline and it was 0.62 [0.57-0.67] at 3 years. After 3 years, 354 (46%) patients were 
adherent to auto-DAS. For adherent patients the median [IQR] number of auto-DAS 
performed was 5.4 [1.7 – 12.8] overall, i.e. 2.3 [0.8 – 5.9] per year. However among the 
adherent population, the number of patients who performed an auto-DAS at least once per 
year decreased over time (Figure) (p<0.0001). In the multivariate analysis, only larger 
inclusion centres were significantly associated to an adherent behaviour (odds ratio 2.9 [95% 
confidence interval 2.0 – 4.1], p<0.0001). 
These results confirmed the feasibility of auto-DAS. Auto-DAS may reflect flares and allow 
the health professional to obtain an overview of health status between visits.[3-5] These 
results further indicate that after a short training, many of these long-standing, moderately 
active RA patients continued to perform an auto-DAS, though the performance of auto-DAS 
decreased over time. It is of course possible that patients who self-reported autoDAS were not 
accurate. It is noteworthy that in this cohort, most patients did not receive any ongoing 
positive feedback on their auto-DAS. In the larger inclusions centres, auto-DAS adherence 
was higher. We hypothesise that a high number of patient inclusion reflected local strong 
involvement of physicians and nurses in the project. The results are suggesting a less 
optimal performance of the auto-DAS in the absence of discussion of the results of the auto-
DAS with the treating rheumatologist. It is noteworthy that patients in the present study had 
stable RA, usually in moderate disease activity. It is possible that auto-DAS is felt as 
worthwhile, when patients are flaring or otherwise doing poorly. Reversely, repeated 
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assessments may pall for patients in long-term stable disease.[6] The decrease over time of 
auto-DAS, and previous studies of between-visit assessments (such as e-health tools can 
provide) indicate a benefit from feedback from the health care providers, to keep patient 
motivation up.[6,7]. These data emphasize the importance of a clear communication between 
the rheumatology team and the treating rheumatologist in order to explain clearly the 
objectives and the potential benefit of this initiative. These results thus suggest the necessity 
of a regular reinforcement of this initiative; which might be optimally performed by the 
rheumatology team during the recommended annual systematic and comprehensive review 
supervised by the rheumatology team. [8] 
We conclude that self-assessment of disease activity is feasible in RA but positive 
reinforcement appears necessary. Further studies should analyse if outcomes are better for 
patients who perform self-assessments regularly. 
 
References 
1. Smolen JS, Breedveld FC, Burmester GR, Bykerk V, Dougados M, Emery P, et al. 
Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: 2014 update of the recommendations of an 
international task force. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016;75:3-15.  
2. Dougados M, Soubrier M, Perrodeau E, Gossec L, Fayet F, Gilson M, et al. Impact of 
a nurse-led programme on comorbidity management and impact of a patient self-
assessment of disease activity on the management of rheumatoid arthritis: results of 
a prospective, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial (COMEDRA).Ann Rheum Dis. 
2015 Sep;74:1725-33.  
3. Markusse IM, Dirven L, Gerards AH, van Groenendael JH, Ronday HK, Kerstens PJ, 
et al. Disease flares in rheumatoid arthritis are associated with joint damage 
progression and disability: 10-year results from the BeSt study. Arthritis Res Ther. 
2015;17:232.  
4. Ometto F, Raffeiner B, Bernardi L, Bostsios C, Veronese N,4, Punzi L, et al. Self-
reported flares are predictors of radiographic progression in rheumatoid arthritis 
patients in 28-joint disease activity score remission: a 24-month observational study. 
Arthritis Res Ther. 2016;18:89.  
5. Portier A, Gossec L, Tubach F, Alfaiate T, Pham T, Saraux A, et al. Patient-perceived 
flares in rheumatoid arthritis: A sub-analysis of the STRASS treatment tapering 
strategy trial. Joint Bone Spine. 2017;84(5):577-581. 
6. Gossec L, Cantagrel A, Soubrier M, Berthelot JM, Joubert JM, Combe B, et al. An e-
health interactive self-assessment website (Sanoia®) in rheumatoid arthritis. A 12-
month randomized controlled trial in 320 patients. Joint Bone Spine. 2018;85(6):709-
714.  
7. Jacquemin C, Molto A, Servy H, Sellam J, Foltz V, Gandjbakhch F, et al. Flares 
assessed weekly in patients with rheumatoid arthritis or axial spondyloarthritis and 
relationship with physical activity measured using a connected activity tracker: a 3-
month study. RMD Open. 2017;3(1):e000434. 
8. NICE quality standards for Rheumatoid arthritis in over 16s. 
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs33 accessed Dec 18, 2018 . 
 
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Figure title. Percentage of patients performing at least one auto-DAS per year, over 
time 
 
 
Legend 
X axis year of follow-up after the trial 
Y axis percentage of patients performing at least one auto-DAS each year, among 
patients considered adherent (i.e., having performed at least one auto-DAS more 
than 6 months after the end of the trial). 
 
 
99
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33
0
20
40
60
80
100
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
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Is self-assessment by patients of disease activity acceptable over the long term in rheumatoid arthritis? A 3-year follow-up of 771 patients

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