Key clinical point: Functional disabilities involving the hands started earlier and were more frequent and severe than those involving feet in patients with clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) who progressed toward rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or clinical inflammatory arthritis (IA).
Major finding: In patients with RA development, hand disabilities occurred earlier and were more frequent and severe (mean difference over time 0.41 units; P < .001) than foot disabilities. The evaluation of tender joints and subclinical joint inflammation showed similar findings for hand and foot involvement.
Study details: This study longitudinally assessed 600 patients with CSA who developed clinical IA or had at least 1 year of follow-up.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the European Research Council and the Dutch Arthritis Society. AHM van der Helm-van Mil declared being an Editorial Board Member for RMD Open. The other authors did not report any conflicts of interest.
Source: Khidir SJH et al. Joint involvement in RA starts predominantly in the hands: Functional, clinical and imaging studies in clinically suspect arthralgia and during progression to RA. RMD Open. 2023;9:e003107 (Jun 16). Doi: 10.1136/rmdopen-2023-003107