Clinical and functional status in 88 rheumatoid arthritis patients followed for 15 years or more by office-based (n = 41) or hospital-based (n = 47) physicians.

Objective: To determine the very long-term clinical and functional outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients followed by office-based or hospital-based physicians.

Patients And Methods: A questionnaire including items on clinical outcomes (active disease, remission, burn-out) and the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was mailed to 122 patients with RA of at least 15 years' duration; 61 were followed by office-based physicians and 61 by hospital-based physicians. In the 88 (72%) respondents, mean age was 63 +/- 13 years and mean disease duration was 20.