A simplified twenty-eight–joint quantitative articular index in rheumatoid arthritis

✍ Scribed by Howard A. Fuchs; Raye H. Brooks; Leigh F. Callahan; Theodore Pincus

• Book ID: 102732453
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 666 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-3591
• DOI: 10.1002/anr.1780320504

✦ Synopsis

We describe a joint index that includes only 28 joints: 10 proximal interphalangeal joints of the fingers, 10 metacarpophalangeal joints, and the wrists, elbows, shoulders, and knees. These joints are evaluated for swelling, tenderness, and limited motion, with the findings scored as abnormal or normal. The 28-joint index is considerably easier to use than traditional methods, and appears to yield as much information in terms of correlation with other measures of clinical status, including hand radiograph scores, American Rheumatism Association functional class, grip strength, walking time, and activities of daily living questionnaire scores (r = 0.25-0.53, P < 0.001). Simplified joint counts might facilitate acquisition of quantitative articular data in research and clinical rheumatologic settings. The articular examination provides the most direct indicator of patient status in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (1). Joint indices are extensively used in clinical trials (2) and are effectively predictive of long-term From the