Abstract
Objectives: To determine if patient global assessment (PGA), as part of Boolean-based definition of remission and individually considered, over the first year of disease course had a significant relationship with structural progression over 3 years in patients with early arthritis (EA).Methods: Prospective, observational study using ESPOIR cohort data. Remission states were defined as (a) 4v-remission: tender (TJC28), swollen 28-joint counts (SJC28), C-Reactive protein (mg/dL), and PGA (0-10) all ≤1; (b) PGA-near-remission: same parameters with only PGA>1/10; (c) 3v-remission (sum of previous groups) or (d) non-remission. The strictest status satisfied both at 6- and 12-months was considered. Radiographic progression was determined as a change in total Sharp-van der Heijde score from baseline to 3 years (ΔSHS) ≥5 points. The predictive capacities for radiographic damage of different remission definitions were assessed by Odds Ratio (OR). The association between each individual component of remission with ΔSHS was tested through multivariate linear regression analyses.Results: Among 520 patients, 7% achieved 4v-remission and 12% PGA-near-remission. Radiographic progression was observed in 29% of patients in 4v-remission (OR versus non-remission, OR=0.32 [95%CI:0.15-0.68]) and in 45% of patients in PGA-near-remission (OR=0.65 [0.38-1.11]); the comparison was not statistically different (OR=0.49 [0.20-1.18]). In 3v-remission it was observed in 39%. Of the individual components, only SJC28 and CRP were associated with radiographic progression.Conclusion: All definitions of remission led to low structural degradation in EA: 4v-remission led to less progression than PGA-near-remission but without a statistically significant difference. Both 4v-remission and 3v-remission appear useful targets when aiming at structural non-progression.