TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlation between conventional disease activity measures in juvenile chronic arthritis
AU - Ravelli, Angelo
AU - Viola, Stefania
AU - Ruperto, Nicolino
AU - Corsi, Barbara
AU - Ballardini, Giuseppina
AU - Martini, Alberto
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Objective - To estimate in a cross sectional analysis the degree of olinearity among the disease activity measures more commonly used in juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). Methods - This study assessed in a single. clinical evaluation three subjective variables, three measures of functional capacity, eight articular indices, and two laboratory indicators of systemic inflammation in 55 consecutive children with JCA. The relation between the clinical measures of JCA activity was determined by Pearson correlation coefficients. An r value of 0.7 or greater was considered evidence of colinearity. Results - Among the subjective variables, parent global assessment of overall well being and parent assessment of pain were correlated with each other; the physician assessment of disease activity did not show evidence of colinearity with any other variable. The functional status measures were correlated with each other, but not with the indices of articular inflammation. There was a high degree of colinearity among the articular variables, with the number of active joints and the overall severity score being correlated with each other as well as with all the single articular indices. The laboratory variables were correlated with each other, but not with any of the articular, functional or subjective variables. Conclusion - Our results show a high degree of colinearity among the disease activity measures belonging to the same category, whereas this is uncommon for variables that investigate different domains of disease activity. These data underline the need to include that evaluation of each domain in the assessment of JCA activity.
AB - Objective - To estimate in a cross sectional analysis the degree of olinearity among the disease activity measures more commonly used in juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA). Methods - This study assessed in a single. clinical evaluation three subjective variables, three measures of functional capacity, eight articular indices, and two laboratory indicators of systemic inflammation in 55 consecutive children with JCA. The relation between the clinical measures of JCA activity was determined by Pearson correlation coefficients. An r value of 0.7 or greater was considered evidence of colinearity. Results - Among the subjective variables, parent global assessment of overall well being and parent assessment of pain were correlated with each other; the physician assessment of disease activity did not show evidence of colinearity with any other variable. The functional status measures were correlated with each other, but not with the indices of articular inflammation. There was a high degree of colinearity among the articular variables, with the number of active joints and the overall severity score being correlated with each other as well as with all the single articular indices. The laboratory variables were correlated with each other, but not with any of the articular, functional or subjective variables. Conclusion - Our results show a high degree of colinearity among the disease activity measures belonging to the same category, whereas this is uncommon for variables that investigate different domains of disease activity. These data underline the need to include that evaluation of each domain in the assessment of JCA activity.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 9135226
AN - SCOPUS:0030895829
VL - 56
SP - 197
EP - 200
JO - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
SN - 0003-4967
IS - 3
ER -