Clinical Practice Guidelines

2015 American College of Rheumatology Guidelines for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Singh JA, et al. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2016;68(1):1-26.

EULAR Recommendations for the Management of Rheumatoid Arthritis With Synthetic and Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs: 2013 Update

Smolen JS, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2014;73(3):492-509.

Treating Rheumatoid Arthritis to Target: 2014 Update of the Recommendations of an International Task Force

Smolen JS, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2016;75(1):3-15

Patient Resources

American College of Rheumatology

The American College of Rheumatology provides information for patients and caregivers that covers a breadth of topics, including the effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), importance of early treatment, access to biologic medications, patient advocacy, and more

Arthritis Foundation

The Arthritis Foundation provides self-care tools and resources covering treatment options, pain management, diet and exercise, and common comorbidities associated with RA.

NIAMS Handout on Health: Rheumatoid Arthritis

This National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases publication is a resource for patients and their families that describes how RA develops, how it is diagnosed, and how it is treated. It also highlights current research efforts and addresses what people can do to help self-manage their disease.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network

The Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network is dedicated to providing up-to-date information and resources for patients with RA.

Clinical Assessment Tools

American College of Rheumatology Disease Activity and Functional Status Assessment Online Calculators

The American College of Rheumatology has endorsed several RA disease activity measures, formatted as online calculators, to facilitate clinical decision-making.

Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI)

The CDAI for RA is a validated instrument that has providers survey 28 joints, the results of which are integrated with the patient’s and clinician’s global health assessment (Aletaha D, et al. Arthritis Res Ther. 2005;7(4):R796-R806).

Disease Activity Score (DAS28)

The DAS28 is a measure of RA disease activity that combines an assessment of 28 joints, results from laboratory testing (DAS28-ESR or DAS28-CRP), and a visual analog scale (Van Der Heijde DMFM, et al. J Rheumatol. 1993;20(3):579-581; Van Gestel AM, et al. Arthritis Rheum. 1998;41(10):1845-1850).

Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3)

RAPID3 is a pooled index of the 3 patient-reported measures from the ACR Core Data Set for RA: function, pain, and patient global estimate of status (Pincus T, et al. Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2009;35(4):773-778).

Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI)

Similar to the CDAI, the SDAI for RA has providers survey 28 joints, incorporates the patient’s and clinician’s global health assessment, and includes the circulating level of C-reactive protein (Smolen JS, et al. Rheumatol. 2003;42(2):244-257).