RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 EULAR recommendations for terminology and research in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis: report from the Study Group for Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 638
OP 641
DO 10.1136/annrheumdis-2011-200990
VO 71
IS 5
A1 Gerlag, Danielle M
A1 Raza, Karim
A1 van Baarsen, Lisa G M
A1 Brouwer, Elisabeth
A1 Buckley, Christopher D
A1 Burmester, Gerd R
A1 Gabay, Cem
A1 Catrina, Anca I
A1 Cope, Andrew P
A1 Cornelis, François
A1 Dahlqvist, Solbritt Rantapää
A1 Emery, Paul
A1 Eyre, Stephen
A1 Finckh, Axel
A1 Gay, Steffen
A1 Hazes, Johanna M
A1 van der Helm-van Mil, Annette
A1 Huizinga, Tom W J
A1 Klareskog, Lars
A1 Kvien, Tore K
A1 Lewis, Cathryn
A1 Machold, Klaus P
A1 Rönnelid, Johan
A1 Schaardenburg, Dirkjan van
A1 Schett, Georg
A1 Smolen, Josef S
A1 Thomas, Sue
A1 Worthington, Jane
A1 Tak, Paul P
YR 2012
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/71/5/638.abstract
AB The Study Group for Risk Factors for Rheumatoid Arthritis was established by the EULAR Standing Committee on Investigative Rheumatology to facilitate research into the preclinical and earliest clinically apparent phases of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This report describes the recommendation for terminology to be used to define specific subgroups during different phases of disease, and defines the priorities for research in this area. Terminology was discussed by way of a three-stage structured process: A provisional list of descriptors for each of the possible phases preceding the diagnosis of RA were circulated to members of the study group for review and feedback. Anonymised comments from the members on this list were fed back to participants before a 2-day meeting. 18 participants met to discuss these data, agree terminologies and prioritise important research questions. The study group recommended that, in prospective studies, individuals without RA are described as having: genetic risk factors for RA; environmental risk factors for RA; systemic autoimmunity associated with RA; symptoms without clinical arthritis; unclassified arthritis; which may be used in a combinatorial manner. It was recommended that the prefix ‘pre-RA with:’ could be used before any/any combination of the five points above but only to describe retrospectively a phase that an individual had progressed through once it was known that they have developed RA. An approach to dating disease onset was recommended. In addition, important areas for research were proposed, including research of other tissues in which an adaptive immune response may be initiated, and the identification of additional risk factors and biomarkers for the development of RA, its progression and the development of extra-articular features. These recommendations provide guidance on approaches to describe phases before the development of RA that will facilitate communication between researchers and comparisons between studies. A number of research questions have been defined, requiring new cohorts to be established and new techniques to be developed to image and collect material from different sites.