Optimisation of rheumatic disease assessments in clinical trials, clinical care, and long-term databases

CER7931
2014 Vol.32, N°5 ,Suppl.85
PI 0002, PF 0006
Optimisation of rheumatology measures

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PMID: 25365081 [PubMed]

Received: 15/09/2014
Accepted : 16/09/2014
In Press: 30/10/2014
Published: 03/11/2014

Abstract

The assessment of disease in rheumatological diseases is rather complicated, because it may involve different contexts (clinical practice, clinical trials, observational studies, registries, etc.) as well as different domains (disease activity, physical function, radiographic damage, quality of life, etc.). Furthermore, available tools can be comprehensive but also rather condense, may be patient-oriented or rather physician-oriented, and so on. In this article all these levels that may matter in case of a choice of disease assessment tool are discussed, arriving at a conclusion that choosing the appropriate tool for the assessment of disease is not `cookbook medicine`.