Further Treatment Intensification in Undifferentiated and Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Already in Low Disease Activity has Limited Benefit towards Physical Functioning.

Background: It is recommended to optimise treatment as long as a predefined treatment target is not met, but should the aim be remission if patients are in low disease activity (LDA)? The aim of this study was to assess if, in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or patients with undifferentiated arthritis (UA) with Disease Activity Score (DAS) ≤ 2.4 (LDA), treatment intensification results in better functional ability.

Methods: In the IMPROVED study 610 patients with early RA or UA were treated with methotrexate + tapered high-dose prednisone.