Guiding optimal therapy with the use of disease activity and functional instruments: lessons from the clinical laboratory.

Overview

Proper assessment and aggressive treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are the key to improved longterm outcomes. The most important diagnostic and monitoring principles for RA include the assessment of inflammation, disease activity, collateral damage from comorbid diseases, and the improvement of patient function and quality of life. A number of different assessment tools are available for physicians to use during routine examination of patients with RA; these instruments will be detailed with suggestions based on proceedings from a satellite symposium at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 2006 Annual Meeting. Audience Response System questions and answers for this topic, which may help other clinicians decide which assessment tools to use in their practices, are included.