The patient-based outcome of upper-extremity surgeries using the DASH questionnaire and the effect of disease activity of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

The Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) is a standardized patient-based outcome measure, which assesses integrated upper-extremity disorders. The objectives of this study were to investigate subjective outcome after upper-extremity surgeries for the patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using the DASH questionnaire (Japanese version) and to investigate the influence of disease activity on the surgical outcome using the Disease Activity Score (DAS) 28-CRP(4). Approximately 127 surgical procedures for the upper extremities in 127 patients with RA were recruited in this study.