ArticleThe Journal of rheumatology2010
Comparison of the construct validity and sensitivity to change of the visual analog scale and a modified rating scale as measures of patient global assessment in rheumatoid arthritis.
Article in The Journal of rheumatology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health status and self-management in patients with inflammatory arthritis-A five-year follow-up study after nurse-led patient education.Nursing open · 2020Trial
- Construct validity and responsiveness of EQ-5D-3L and EQ VAS in psoriatic arthritis: an evaluation based on the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2026Article
- The co-creation of a COMbined Fatigue Intervention (COMFI) for people with inflammatory arthritis: a complex intervention.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Article
- The value of EQ-5D-3L and EQ VAS as a patient-reported outcome measure for patients with ankylosing spondylitis in routine healthcare: an evaluation of construct validity and responsiveness based on the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2026Article
- Lupus Low Disease Activity State and organ damage in relation to quality of life in systemic lupus erythematosus: a cohort study with up to 11 years of follow-up.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Article
- Simulated Forest Immersion Therapy: Methods Development.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- The impact of COVID-19 on clinical care, self-management and mental health of patients with inflammatory arthritis.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2022Article
- Comparison of the construct validity and reproducibility of four different types of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2018Article
- "Like No One Is Listening to Me": A Qualitative Study of Patient-Provider Discordance Between Global Assessments of Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis care & research · 2018Article
- Influence of the different "patient global assessment" formulations on disease activity score by different indices in rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2018Article
- Patient global assessment in measuring disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a review of the literature.Arthritis research & therapy · 2016Review
- Predictors of frequent oral analgesic use in rheumatoid arthritis.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2014Article
- Patient's global assessment of disease activity and patient's assessment of general health for rheumatoid arthritis activity assessment: are they equivalent?Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2012Article
- Contextual and time dependent pain in fibromyalgia: an explorative study.BMC research notes · 2012Article
- Pain persists in DAS28 rheumatoid arthritis remission but not in ACR/EULAR remission: a longitudinal observational study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivePatient global assessment (PGA) is commonly measured using a visual analog scale (VAS). The VAS asks patients to integrate many dimensions of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity, yet its scope is poorly defined and its endpoints are vague. We investigated whether a modified Rating Scale that used marker states and more defined endpoints would provide a more valid measure of PGA.
methodsIn our prospective longitudinal study, 164 patients with active RA rated their global arthritis activity using the VAS and Rating Scale before and after treatment. To compare construct validity, we correlated each score with 2 reference measures of RA activity, the 28-joint count Disease Activity Score (DAS28) and the physician global assessment, and examined how each measure was associated with different aspects of RA activity, including pain, functioning, and depressive symptoms, in multivariate regression analyses. We also examined sensitivity to change.
resultsBoth measures were correlated with the DAS28 (r = 0.39 for VAS; r = 0.35 for Rating Scale) and physician global assessment (r = 0.41 for VAS; r = 0.26 for Rating Scale) at the baseline visit. Pain and depressive symptoms had the strongest association with the VAS, while functional limitations and depressive symptoms had the strongest association with the Rating Scale. Residual analysis showed no differences in heterogeneity of patients' ratings. VAS was more sensitive to change than the Rating Scale (standardized response means of 0.55 and 0.45).
conclusionAs measures of PGA, the VAS and Rating Scale had comparable construct validity, but differed in which aspects of arthritis activity influenced scores. VAS was more sensitive to change.
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