Reexamining Remission Definitions in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Considering the Twenty-Eight-Joint Disease Activity Score, C-Reactive Protein Level, and Patient Global Assessment.

Abstract

The Editors of the 5 journals of the American College of Rheumatology and European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology have been reminded by this editorial that ACR and EULAR have jointly agreed on various classification criteria, definitions, recommendations, or points to consider, which do not always find reflection in manuscripts submitted to the journals. Consequently, in the future, the Editors will enforce the use of the products obtained in the course of joint ACR/EULAR or EULAR/ACR activities in all respective papers. For rheumatoid arthritis this would mean use of the ACR/EULAR or EULAR/ACR classification criteria, remission definitions, recommendations on what to report in clinical trials, and others, as pertinent. The same applies to other diseases. There are valid and important reasons that these activities have been undertaken by ACR and EULAR, and therefore, the conclusions of the various task forces, which have been endorsed by ACR and EULAR, should be respected by investigators and study administrators. This does not mean other methods could not be used in a study, but at the least, the reports should address the methods agreed on by the two organisations. Maintaining uniformity across major publications regarding rheumatoid arthritis remission or other definitions not only allows for more appropriate comparison across analyses, but also enhances readers’ ability to interpret results. Author instructions across the five journals will more strongly reflect this requirement.