Comparison of Remotely Applied and Face-to-Face Disease Activity Scores in Saudi Arabian Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Prospective Cohort Study

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) CA), 2024-01, Vol.16 (1), p.e52390-e52390
• Main Authors: Almansouri, Abdulrahman Y, Alsofyani, Rahaf, Alharbi, Hanin A, Almaqati, Ahmed S, Aloqbi, Hind S, Bakhsh, Lama, Althubaiti, Alaa, Alzahrani, Zeyad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agreements; Body mass index; Clinics; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Data collection; Healthcare Technology; Informed consent; Missing data; Pandemics; Patients; Questionnaires; Remission (Medicine); Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; Telemedicine
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.52390

 This study aimed to assess the disease activity indices (DAI) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by telephone-based tele-visits compared to face-to-face clinic encounters. Patients with RA attending outpatient clinics between December 2021 and May 2022 were prospectively recruited. Disease activity assessments were initially performed in the clinic using the disease activity score 28-C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) and disease activity score 28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR). Within two weeks of the clinic visit, a telephone-based assessment gathered information on demographics, Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3) score, and satisfaction. Disease activity scores were dichotomized into remission or low disease activity and moderate to high disease activity.  A total of 78 patients completed the two-point interview. Of those, 62 (79.49%) were women, with a mean age of 54.73±13.71 years. Seropositivity for rheumatoid factor and/or anti-citrullinated peptide was observed in 51 (83.61%) participants. Twenty-seven percent of the patients were classified as in remission or low disease activity by RAPID3. This was 71% for DAS28-CRP and 33% for DAS28-ESR. Based on the dichotomized disease activity classification, the agreement percentage between RAPID3 and DAS28-ESR was 78.08%, while it was 47.22% between RAPID3 and DAS28-CRP, which resulted in kappa statistic values of 0.48 (moderate agreement) and 0.14 (low agreement), respectively. Satisfaction rates were low.  Telephone-based RAPID3 showed a low-moderate agreeability compared to DAS28 and had low satisfaction rates. This suggests that tele-rheumatology care by this means was not feasible for following up with patients with RA and warrants further development.