ArticleRheumatology (Oxford, England)2022
Work participation is reduced during the development of RA, months before clinical arthritis manifests.
Article in Rheumatology (Oxford, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential of digital applications for self-management and other outcomes in inflammatory rheumatic diseases: a systematic literature review.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Trial
- Healthcare Professionals' Experiences with Vocational Rehabilitation for People with Inflammatory Arthritis.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Incident rheumatoid arthritis and work loss: a nationwide sibling comparison study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- The natural course of health-related quality of life in patients with clinically suspect arthralgia: a longitudinal study in progressors and non-progressors to rheumatoid arthritis.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- Research progress on the effects and mechanisms of different cell types on osteoclast differentiation in bone metabolism in rheumatoid arthritis.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Patient burden and joint inflammation during development of RA from arthralgia: is it similar in ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative disease?Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Hand function is already reduced before RA development and reflects subclinical tenosynovitis.RMD open · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesWe investigated whether work participation is affected in patients with arthralgia during transition to RA. Arthralgia patients with symptom resolution and early RA patients at diagnosis were used as a reference.
methodsThree groups of patients were studied: arthralgia patients converting to RA (n = 114), arthralgia patients with spontaneous symptom resolution (n = 57), and early RA patients (n = 617). Both presenteeism (i.e. working while sick, scale 0-10) and absenteeism (i.e. sick leave) were taken into account. Work ability 1 year prior to clinical arthritis was estimated (in absolute numbers). The course of work restriction over time was studied using linear mixed models (β coefficient; delta per month) within each patient group.
resultsOne-year prior to the development of clinical arthritis, mean presenteeism was 7.0 (95% CI 5.8, 8.1) in patients with arthralgia, indicating 30% loss, and further worsened to 6.1 (95% CI 5.3, 6.6) at RA diagnosis, thus indicating 39% loss. In early RA patients, presenteeism improved over time after DMARD initiation (β 0.052 per month 95% CI 0.042, 0.061, P < 0.0001). Presenteeism also improved in arthralgia patients who achieved spontaneous symptom resolution (β 0.063 per month, 95% CI 0.024, 0.10, P = 0.002). Absenteeism did not change significantly in arthralgia patients, but did improve in RA after DMARD-start. ACPA stratification revealed similar results.
conclusionIn the months preceding RA, presenteeism was already apparent, and it worsened further during progression to clinical arthritis and diagnosis. This underlines the relevance of the symptomatic pre-RA phase for patients. The observed reversibility in arthralgia patients with symptom resolution may suggest that intervention in pre-RA could improve work participation.
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