Probability of Medication Intensifications in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients With Low Disease Activity Scores on Their Patient-Reported Outcomes: A Medical-Records Review Study

Background Patients with rheumatoid arthritis require frequent consultations to monitor disease activity and intensify medication when treatment targets are not met. However, because most patients are in remission during follow-up, it should be possible to reduce the number of consultations for them. Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) could be used to identify patients who meet their treatment goal and who could therefore be eligible to skip their visit. Objective The aim of this study was to assess the probability that patients with low disease activity scores on their ePROs do not need a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) or steroid intensification in the first 2 weeks after completion of the ePROs. Methods This medical-records review study compared results of ePROs answered during routine care with DMARD or steroid intensifications collected from anonymized electronic medical record at Reade. The primary outcome was the positive predictive value (PPV) of having a low disease activity score on an ePRO for not receiving a DMARD or steroid intensifications within 2 weeks. The 3 studied ePROs (and respective low disease activity outcome) were the Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) (score <2), Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS) (yes), and the flare question (no). The secondary aim of the study was to assess which combination of ePROs resulted in the best PPV for DMARD or steroid intensifications. Results Of the 400 randomly selected records, ultimately 321 were included (302 unique patients). The PPV of a RAPID3 <2, being in PASS, and a negative answer on the flare question were, respectively, 99%, 95%, and 83% to not receive a DMARD or steroid intensification within 2 weeks. The combination of a RAPID3 <2 and a negative flare question resulted in a PPV of 100%; this combination was present in 29% (93/321) of the total study population. Conclusion The RAPID3, PASS, and flare question have a high diagnostic accuracy to identify individuals who will not receive a DMARD or steroid intensification in the following 2 weeks. The combination of the RAPID3 and flare question yielded the best combination of diagnostic accuracy and highest percentage of patients who could be eligible to skip a visit. These results suggest that accurate identification of patients who meet their treatment goal with ePROs is possible.