The following is a summary of “Evaluation of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) Score in Assessing Rheumatoid Arthritis Activity in Teleconsultation,” published in the October 2024 issue of Rheumatology by Avouac et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the relevance of the Rheumatoid Arthritis Impact of Disease (RAID) score as a disease activity marker for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a teleconsultation setting. 

They conducted a 24-month, single-center study involving patients with RA who underwent teleconsultations. The RAID score was emailed to all patients for completion the day before their scheduled teleconsultation. Patients also completed the RAID questionnaire prior to the next in-person consultation. The same physician conducted both teleconsultations and in-person visits while remaining unaware of the RAID results. 

The results showed that 70 patients were included (mean age 50 [SD 14] yrs, mean disease duration 10 [SD 9] yrs). The RAID score correlated with patient global assessment (r 0.55, P<0.001), swollen joint count (r 0.50, P<0.001), and the Disease Activity Score in 28 joints based on C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP) calculated with self-reported tender/swollen joints (r 0.74, P<0.001). The RAID score for 45 patients at the next face-to-face consultation correlated with the clinician’s DAS28-CRP (r 0.65, P<0.001). A RAID score > 2 provided optimal sensitivity (94%) and specificity (43%) for indicating a rapid in-person consultation due to insufficiently controlled disease activity, with an area under the curve of 0.74. All 23 patients with RAID < 2 had no intercurrent flares, with an overall physician global assessment of 1.6 of 10 (SD 1.4), DAS28-CRP 1.5 (SD 0.2), and CRP 1.8 (SD 1.4) mg/L. 

Investigators concluded that the RAID score was a valuable teleconsultation tool, effectively distinguishing between patients with good disease control and those needing an in-person visit. 

Source: jrheum.org/content/51/10/973