SynthesisArthritis care & research2013
Symptom complexes at the earliest phases of rheumatoid arthritis: a synthesis of the qualitative literature.
Synthesis in Arthritis care & research, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 61 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recovery from Borderline Personality Disorder: A Systematic Review of the Perspectives of Consumers, Clinicians, Family and Carers.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Help-seeking trajectory in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2015Pooled it
- Baseline synovitis-tenosynovitis is associated with remission in early rheumatoid arthritis, but discordance with disease activity is a changeable state.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2025Trial
- Living with palindromic rheumatism: a qualitative interview study.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2026Article
- Recent Advancements in Bioelectronic Medicine: A Review.Current drug delivery · 2024Review
- Newly diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis (NISMA)-development of a complex self-management intervention.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- I Would Never Take Preventive Medication! Perspectives and Information Needs of People Who Underwent Predictive Tests for Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis care & research · 2020Article
- Observational
- Window of opportunity in rheumatoid arthritis - definitions and supporting evidence: from old to new perspectives.RMD open · 2019Review
- The perspective of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis on the journey from symptom onset until referral to a rheumatologist.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2019Article
- Living life precariously with rheumatoid arthritis - a mega-ethnography of nine qualitative evidence syntheses.BMC rheumatology · 2019Article
- A quarter of patients time their early rheumatoid arthritis onset differently than physicians.RMD open · 2019Observational
- Article
- Initial validation and results of the Symptoms in Persons At Risk of Rheumatoid Arthritis (SPARRA) questionnaire: a EULAR project.RMD open · 2018Article
- Presence of anticitrullinated protein antibodies in a large population-based cohort from the Netherlands.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2017Article
- Qualitative Exploration of Illness Perceptions of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the General Public.Musculoskeletal care · 2017Article
- Article
- Barriers to accessing the culturally sensitive healthcare that could decrease the disabling effects of arthritis in a rural Mayan community: a qualitative inquiry.Clinical rheumatology · 2016Article
- The development and initial validation of a questionnaire to measure help-seeking behaviour in patients with new onset rheumatoid arthritis.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2015Article
- A qualitative investigation of the barriers to help-seeking among members of the public presented with symptoms of new-onset rheumatoid arthritis.The Journal of rheumatology · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveUnderstanding the features and patterns of symptoms that characterize the earliest stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is of considerable importance if patients are to be identified and started on treatment early. However, little is known about the characteristics of symptoms at the onset of a disease that eventually progresses to RA.
methodsA systematic review of qualitative peer-reviewed publications was conducted to identify the earliest symptoms associated with the onset of RA. A total of 1,736 abstracts were searched to identify relevant publications. Twenty-six publications were identified, assessed for quality, and subjected to analysis informed by thematic and grounded theory frameworks.
resultsSeveral interacting themes describing the early symptoms of RA were identified, including swelling, pain and tenderness, stiffness, fatigue and weakness, and the emotional impact of symptoms. For each symptom, different and evolving intensities were described; in some cases, patterns of symptom onset and symptom complexes at the onset of RA were highlighted. Importantly, this review has emphasized major deficiencies in the literature. None of the studies reviewed originally aimed to explore symptoms at RA onset (often discussions about symptom onset were secondary to the study's primary aim). Also, many of the articles identified sampled people diagnosed with RA many years previously, making their recollection of symptoms at onset less reliable.
conclusionIn order for clinicians to fully understand the earliest phases of disease, the nature of symptoms at onset needs to be understood. The current work represents a useful starting point, but this area needs further qualitative investigation, followed by quantitative explorations of symptom clusters and their associated features.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.