After JAK inhibitor failure: to cycle or to switch, that is the question - data from the JAK-pot collaboration of registries.

Objectives: The expanded therapeutic arsenal in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) raises new clinical questions. The objective of this study is to compare the effectiveness of cycling Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) with switching to biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) in patients with RA after failure to the first JAKi.

Methods: This is a nested cohort study within data pooled from an international collaboration of 17 national registries (JAK-pot collaboration).

Effectiveness of TNF-inhibitors, abatacept, IL6-inhibitors and JAK-inhibitors in 31 846 patients with rheumatoid arthritis in 19 registers from the 'JAK-pot' collaboration.

Background: JAK-inhibitors (JAKi), recently approved in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), have changed the landscape of treatment choices. We aimed to compare the effectiveness of four current second-line therapies of RA with different modes of action, since JAKi approval, in an international collaboration of 19 registers.

Methods: In this observational cohort study, patients initiating tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), interleukin-6 inhibitors (IL-6i), abatacept (ABA) or JAKi were included.

Guidelines for the conduct of pharmacological clinical trials in hand osteoarthritis: Consensus of a Working Group of the European Society on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (ESCEO).

Objectives: To gather expert opinion on the conduct of clinical trials that will facilitate regulatory review and approval of appropriate efficacious pharmacological treatments for hand osteoarthritis (OA), an area of high unmet clinical need.

Methods: The European Society on Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis and Musculoskeletal diseases (ESCEO) organized a working group under the auspices of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Results: This consensus guideline is intended to provide a reference tool for practice, and should allow for better standardization of the conduct of clinical trials in hand OA.

The Short Form Score for the Assessment and Quantification of Chronic Rheumatic Affections of the Hands in Daily Clinical Routines-Its Sensitivity to Change and Preliminary Patient Relevant Variation Values: A Pilot Study.

Objective: The SF-SACRAH was developed to assess the involvement of the hand in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and hand osteoarthritis (HOA) patients in daily clinical routines. In this pilot study, its sensitivity to change will be assessed longitudinally, and preliminary thresholds for patient relevant changes are derived.

Methods: Ninety-nine outpatients suffering from HOA ( = 55) or RA ( = 44) completed the SF-SACRAH once initially.

RADAI-5 and electronic monitoring tools.

Tighter monitoring of patients is regarded one of the key approaches to improve management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It could be demonstrated that the patient relevant disease course is not simply the linear link between two observation points, but fluctuates significantly in up to 80% of patients surveyed three times over two months, which understandably compromises quality of life. Patient self-report questionnaires such as the Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index-Five (RADAI-5) have been shown to provide reliable information about disease activity, functionality, and other important aspects of daily life.

Validity of data collected in BIOREG, the Austrian register for biological treatment in rheumatology: current practice of bDMARD therapy in rheumatoid arthritis in Austria.

Background: The purpose of the present study was to check the validity of data collected in BIOREG, the Austrian register for biological treatment in rheumatology, and to elucidate eventual differences with respect to disease activity (DA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on established biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) before inclusion into the register (EST) and beginners at the time point of inclusion (NEW) after 1 year of treatment.

Methods: RA patients with a complete follow-up of 1 year in BIOREG were divided into EST and NEW and compared with respect to DA, remission rates, concomitant synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) and glucocorticoid therapy (GC) at baseline and after 1-year follow-up. Safety concerns are listed.

Diacerein: Benefits, Risks and Place in the Management of Osteoarthritis. An Opinion-Based Report from the ESCEO.

Diacerein is a symptomatic slow-acting drug in osteoarthritis (SYSADOA) with anti-inflammatory, anti-catabolic and pro-anabolic properties on cartilage and synovial membrane. It has also recently been shown to have protective effects against subchondral bone remodelling. Following the end of the revision procedure by the Pharmacovigilance Risk Assessment Committee of the European Medicines Agency, the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis (ESCEO) constituted a panel of 11 experts to better define the real place of diacerein in the armamentarium for treating OA.

Is the state of health of rheumatoid arthritis patients receiving adequate treatment, predictable? - Results of a survey.

Background: A survey was conducted to evaluate whether a steady improvement in the quality of life of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients as frequently reported in clinical studies, does actually occur. The focus of this study laid on the personal perception of RA patients. How do patients who have been treated along accepted guidelines see the state of their health and their joint pain at different points in time?

Methods: RA patients were asked to complete a questionnaire and return it to an opinion research centre.

Patient-centered psoriatic arthritis (PsA) activity assessment by Stockerau Activity Score for Psoriatic Arthritis (SASPA).

Background: To investigate whether a modified Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index-5 could be applied as a routine assessment tool for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients.

Methods: Ninety-seven PsA outpatients (mean age 49.78 years; age range 23-80 years; 49 male, 48 female), completed a prototype questionnaire.

Quality of care of rural rheumatoid arthritis patients in Austria.

Objectives: To determine how fast rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was diagnosed in a group of patients in a rural area and whether medical care and patient satisfaction were adequate in a predominantly non-urban settlement.

Methods: When visiting their rheumatologist, patients with RA were asked to complete a questionnaire at home after the consultation and then return it to an independent opinion research centre, where the data were collected and analysed. The form comprised various areas, namely demography, aspects of the diagnosis, medical care, therapeutic measures and the illness in a personal context.

[Austrian 3e-recommendations for diagnosis and management of gout 2013].

Background: Gout is the most common inflammatory joint disease in the Western world, with increasing prevalence. Like former 3e-initiatives (Experts-Evidence-Education) dealing with other rheumatological problems, this initiative aimed at the development of international recommendations for the diagnosis and management of gout and hyperuricemia based on a systematic literature research.

Methods: In the participating countries 10 national questions were generated via a Delphi-process.

Multinational evidence-based recommendations for the diagnosis and management of gout: integrating systematic literature review and expert opinion of a broad panel of rheumatologists in the 3e initiative.

We aimed to develop evidence-based multinational recommendations for the diagnosis and management of gout. Using a formal voting process, a panel of 78 international rheumatologists developed 10 key clinical questions pertinent to the diagnosis and management of gout. Each question was investigated with a systematic literature review.

Remission in rheumatoid arthritis: a comparison of the 2 newly proposed ACR/EULAR remission criteria with the rheumatoid arthritis disease activity index-5, a patient self-report disease activity index.

Objective: We analyzed whether a patient self-report remission criterion, such as that according to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index-5 (RADAI-5), meets the criteria of the 2011 proposed American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism (ACR/EULAR) definition of remission.

Methods: The 2 approaches of the ACR/EULAR proposal [Boolean- and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI)-based] as well as the RADAI-5 were used to assess whether patients with RA are in remission. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), and kappa analyses were performed to illustrate the relationship among the different approaches defining remission at a group level.

Algorithm for identification of undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis: a multinational collaboration through the 3e initiative.

Objective: To develop an algorithm for identification of undifferentiated peripheral inflammatory arthritis (UPIA).

Methods: An algorithm for identification of UPIA was developed by consensus during a roundtable meeting with an expert panel. It was informed by systematic reviews of the literature used to generate 10 recommendations for the investigation and followup of UPIA through the 3e initiative.

A comparison of the modified score for the assessment of chronic rheumatoid affections of the hands and the australian/canadian osteoarthritis hand index in hand osteoarthritis patients.

Objectives. To compare the modified score for the assessment and quantification of chronic rheumatoid affections of the hands (M-SACRAH) with the Australian/Canadian osteoarthritis hand index (AUSCAN) in hand osteoarthritis (HOA). Both are self-administered patient questionnaires, being designed to assess functional status, stiffness, and pain in affected patients, despite some differences in format, compass and arrangement of questions.