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The following is a summary of “Changes at Presentation in Patients With Early Rheumatoid Arthritis: A 24-Year Study of the Early Undifferentiated Polyarthritis (EUPA) Cohort,” published in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Rheumatology by Carrier et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to analyze changes in baseline characteristics of patients with very early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over 24 years in the Early Undifferentiated Polyarthritis (EUPA) cohort.  

They assessed consecutive patients with recent-onset polyarthritis fulfilling RA classification criteria recruited in EUPA at baseline. About 3 successive periods were defined: prior to the general availability of biologics (1998-2004; 245 patients), prior to the implantation of the 2010 classification criteria (2005-2010; 266 patients), and the most recent decade (2011-2022; 329 patients). 

The results showed that demographics, BMI, joint counts, shared epitope status, and patient-reported outcomes remained stable over the 3 periods. Active smoking decreased from 22.2% to 12.1%, while cardiovascular comorbidities and prior cancer increased. Symptom duration rose from 2.9 to 4.1 months, seropositivity decreased from 53.9% to 42.2%, and C-reactive protein levels declined after 2005-2010. Erosive status (Sharp/van der Heijde score ≥ 5) decreased from 18.3% to 9.4% after 2011, mainly in seronegative patients. Use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs remained stable at 25.7%, while oral corticosteroid use increased from 18% to 33.4%. 

Investigators found that baseline characteristics of patients with RA evolved since 2005, with less seropositivity, lower blood inflammation, and more comorbidities. Milder erosive damage became evident only after 2011, mostly in seronegative patients. 

Source: jrheum.org/content/52/2/119