Table 1

Structure and content of the RA core set developed by the EULAR Task Force

S. No	Item	Recommendation of standardised way of assessment
1	Age	Date of birth
2	Gender	Male/female
3	Disease duration	Date of diagnosis
4	Diagnosis of RA	Rheumatologist reported diagnosis of RA
5	Body mass index	Weight and height
6	Smoking	Current/previous/never
7	Tender joints	28 joint count
8	Swollen joints	28 joint count
9	Patient global	Measured on VAS or NRS scale capturing: (1) global assessment of disease activity; (2) related to arthritis and (3) today Example wording: ‘Considering all the ways your arthritis has affected you, how do you feel your arthritis is today?’ anchors: excellent–very poor
10	Evaluator global	Measured on VAS or NRS scale capturing: (1) global assessment of disease activity; (2) related to arthritis and (3) today Example wording: ‘What is your overall assessment of the patient’s RA disease activity today?’ anchors: excellent–very poor
11	Pain	Measured on VAS or NRS capturing: (1) pain; (2) related to arthritis and (3) last week Example wording: ‘How much pain did you have due to your arthritis last week?’ anchors: no pain–worst imaginable pain
12	Physical function	Health Assessment Questionnaire
13	Health-related quality of life	Euro-Qol 5 dimensions*
14	Composite scores	Collection of core items 7–12 and 15 enables to calculate following composite scores: Clinical Disease Activity Index Simplified Disease Activity Index Disease Activity Score 28 joints EULAR response criteria American College of Rheumatology response criteria
15	Acute phase reactants	C-reactive protein AND erythrocyte sedimentation rate
16	Serology	Rheumatoid factor AND anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies
17	Structural damage	Presence of erosions on X-ray, Yes/No
18	DMARD history	Name of previous DMARD(s) (including biological, synthetic and targeted synthetic DMARDs)
19	Ongoing/most recent DMARD	Name of DMARD
		Start and stop date
		Reason for stopping
20	Glucocorticoids	Current use of oral glucocorticoids: (1) dose taken today __mg prednisolone equivalent and (2) continuous (>3 months) intake YES/NO
21	Comorbidities	Binary assessment YES/NO of the six EULAR comorbidity domains (cardiovascular disease, malignancies, infections, gastrointestinal disease, osteoporosis, depression)5

*Free licence available after registration for non-commercial parties according to www.euroqol.org.
DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; EULAR, European League Against Rheumatism; NRS, numerical rating scale; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; VAS, visual analogue scale.