Ten-year radiographic and functional outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis patients in remission compared to patients in low disease activity

Background To compare the 10-year structural and functional prognosis between patients in sustained remission versus patients in sustained low disease activity (LDA) in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods We included 256 patients from the ESPOIR cohort who fulfilled the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for RA and who were in sustained remission using the Simple Disease Activity Index (SDAI) score (n = 48), in sustained LDA (n = 139) or in sustained moderate to high disease activity (MDA or HDA, n = 69) over 10 years. The mTSSs progression over 10 years and the 10-year HAQ-DI scores were compared between the 3 groups. A longitudinal latent process mixed model was used to assess the independent effect of SDAI status over time on 10-year mTSS progression and HAQ-DI at 10 years.Results Patients in sustained remission group were younger, had lower baseline HAQ-DI and mTSS scores and were less exposed to glucocorticoids, methotrexate or biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs over 10 years. Patients in sustained remission had lower 10-year structural progression (variation of mTSS in the remission group: 4.06 (+/- 4.75) versus 14.59 (+/- 19.76) in the LDA group and 21.04 (+/- 24.08), p < 0.001 in the MDA or HDA groups) and lower 10-year HAQ-DI scores (10-year HAQ-DI in the remission group: 0.14 (+/- 0.33) versus 0.53 (+/- 0.49) in the LDA group and 1.20 (+/- 0.62) in the MDA or HDA groups, p < 0.001). The incidence of serious adverse events over 10 years was low, about 3.34/100 patient years, without any difference between the three groups.Conclusion RA patients in sustained SDAI remission have better long-term structural and functional outcomes in comparison to patients in sustained LDA.