Using the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) definition of early rheumatoid arthritis (RA), patients treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) within 6 months of disease had better long-term outcomes with less physical damage and functional impairment, a recent study found. A cross-sectional study was performed in a cohort of Puerto Ricans with RA (n=387, mean age 56, mean disease duration 14.9 years, and 337 women [87%]). Demographic features, clinical manifestations, disease activity, functional status, and pharmacotherapy were determined. Early treatment was defined as the initiation of DMARDs (conventional and/or biologic) in <6 months from the onset of symptoms attributable to RA. Patients who received early (< 6 months) and late (≥6 months) treatments were compared using bivariate and multivariate analyses. Researchers found:

• 121 (31.3%) patients received early treatment.
• In the multivariate analysis adjusted for age and sex, early treatment was associated with better functional status, lower probability of joint deformities, intra-articular injections and joint replacement surgeries, and lower scores in the physician’s assessments of global health, functional impairment and physical damage of patients.