Title
Physician ability to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity using an electronic medical record-based disease activity calculator
UMMS Affiliation
Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology
Publication Date
2009-04-15
Document Type
Article
Subjects
Arthritis, Rheumatoid; *Attitude of Health Personnel; Cohort Studies; Disability Evaluation; Disease Progression; Health Care Surveys; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; *Medical Records Systems, Computerized; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Predictive Value of Tests; Rheumatology; *Severity of Illness Index; *Software
Disciplines
Musculoskeletal Diseases | Rheumatology | Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess physicians' concordance with Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS28) categories calculated by an electronic medical record (EMR)-embedded disease activity calculator, as well as attitudes toward this application.
METHODS: Fifteen rheumatologists used the EMR-embedded disease activity calculator to predict a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) DAS28 disease activity category at the time of each clinical encounter.
RESULTS: Physician-predicted DAS28 disease activity categories ranged from high ( > 5.1, 15% of cohort, 66 of 429 patient visits) to moderate ( > 3.2-5.1, 21% of cohort, 90 of 429 patient visits) to low (2.6-3.2, 29% of cohort, 123 of 429 patient visits) to remission ( < 2.6, 35% of cohort, 150 of 429 patient visits). Overall concordance between calculated DAS28 results and physician-predicted RA disease activity was 64%. Using either the physician-predicted or the calculated DAS28 category as the gold standard, accuracy was greatest for patients in remission (75% and 88% accuracy, respectively) and those with high disease activity (68% and 79% accuracy, respectively), and less for patients with moderate (48% and 62% accuracy, respectively) or low disease activity (62% and 31% accuracy, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Accurate physician prediction of DAS28 remission and high disease activity categories, even without immediate availability of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate or the C-reactive protein level at the time of the visit, may be used to guide quantitatively driven outpatient RA management.
DOI of Published Version
10.1002/art.24335
Source
Arthritis Rheum. 2009 Apr 15;61(4):495-500. doi: 10.1002/art.24335. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Arthritis and rheumatism
Related Resources
PubMed ID
19333984
Repository Citation
Collier DS, Grant RW, Estey G, Surrao D, Chueh HC, Kay J. (2009). Physician ability to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity using an electronic medical record-based disease activity calculator. Rheumatology Publications. https://doi.org/10.1002/art.24335. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/rheumatology_pubs/89