J Rheum Dis.  2015 Aug;22(4):231-237. 10.4078/jrd.2015.22.4.231.

Effect of Formal Education Level on Measurement of Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Internal Medicine, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea. yourii99@cu.ac.kr
  • 2Department of Medical Statistics, Catholic University of Daegu School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
  • 3Division of Rheumatology, Rush University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to analyze the capacity of three demographic variables - age, sex, and formal education level - as well as disease duration to explain variation in 7 Core Data Set variables and 4 indices used to assess rheumatoid arthritis (RA), in a cohort of Korean patients seen in usual care.
METHODS
All RA Core Data Set measures were collected in usual care of 397 RA patients, including tender/swollen joint counts (TJC, SJC) 28, physician global estimate of status, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, and a multidimensional health assessment questionnaire to assess physical function, pain, and patient global estimate of status (PATGL). Four indices were computed: disease activity score with 28 joint count (DAS28), simplified disease activity index (SDAI), clinical disease activity index (CDAI), and routine assessment of patient index data 3 (RAPID3). Descriptive statistics and multivariate generalized linear models were used in data analysis.
RESULTS
Patients with lower education had higher scores, indicating greater severity, for all 7 Core Data Set measures and 4 indices (significant for TJC, function, pain, PATGL, DAS28, SDAI, CDAI, RAPID3). In a series of regressions that included age, sex, disease duration, and education, formal education level was the only significant variable to explain variation in TJC, pain, PATGL, physician global estimate of status (DOCGL), DAS28, SDAI, CDAI, and RAPID3.
CONCLUSION
Significant associations with education were found in Korean RA patients according to most RA Core Data Set measures and 4 indices. Education was more likely than age, sex, or disease duration to explain variation in most measures and indices.

Keyword

Rheumatoid arthritis; Social class; Education

MeSH Terms

Arthritis, Rheumatoid*
Blood Sedimentation
C-Reactive Protein
Cohort Studies
Dataset
Education*
Humans
Joints
Linear Models
Social Class
Statistics as Topic
C-Reactive Protein

Cited by  2 articles

Effect of Formal Education Level on Measurement of Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity
Young Ho Lee
J Rheum Dis. 2015;22(5):271-273.    doi: 10.4078/jrd.2015.22.5.271.

Evidence from a Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ) of the Value of a Biopsychosocial Model to Complement a Traditional Biomedical Model in Care of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Theodore Pincus, Jacquelin R Chua, Kathryn A Gibson
J Rheum Dis. 2016;23(4):212-233.    doi: 10.4078/jrd.2016.23.4.212.


Reference

1. Scott DL, Wolfe F, Huizinga TW. Rheumatoid arthritis. Lancet. 2010; 376:1094–108.
Article
2. McInnes IB, Schett G. The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis. N Engl J Med. 2011; 365:2205–19.
Article
3. Huisman M, Kunst AE, Bopp M, Borgan JK, Borrell C, Costa G, et al. Educational inequalities in cause-specific mortality in middle-aged and older men and women in eight western European populations. Lancet. 2005; 365:493–500.
Article
4. Loucks EB, Lynch JW, Pilote L, Fuhrer R, Almeida ND, Richard H, et al. Life-course socioeconomic position and incidence of coronary heart disease: the Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2009; 169:829–36.
5. Smith BT, Lynch JW, Fox CS, Harper S, Abrahamowicz M, Almeida ND, et al. Life-course socioeconomic position and type 2 diabetes mellitus: The Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Epidemiol. 2011; 173:438–47.
6. Pincus T, Callahan LF. Formal education as a marker for increased mortality and morbidity in rheumatoid arthritis. J Chronic Dis. 1985; 38:973–84.
Article
7. Pincus T, Callahan LF. Associations of low formal education level and poor health status: behavioral, in addition to demographic and medical, explanations? J Clin Epidemiol. 1994; 47:355–61.
Article
8. Pincus T, Keysor J, Sokka T, Krishnan E, Callahan LF. Patient questionnaires and formal education level as prospective predictors of mortality over 10 years in 97% of 1416 patients with rheumatoid arthritis from 15 United States private practices. J Rheumatol. 2004; 31:229–34.
9. Bengtsson C, Nordmark B, Klareskog L, Lundberg I, Alfredsson L. EIRA Study Group. Socioeconomic status and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA study. Ann Rheum Dis. 2005; 64:1588–94.
10. Massardo L, Pons-Estel BA, Wojdyla D, Cardiel MH, Galarza-Maldonado CM, Sacnun MP, et al. Early rheumatoid arthritis in Latin America: low socioeconomic status related to high disease activity at baseline. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2012; 64:1135–43.
11. Parks CG, D'Aloisio AA, DeRoo LA, Huiber K, Rider LG, Miller FW, et al. Childhood socioeconomic factors and peri-natal characteristics influence development of rheumatoid arthritis in adulthood. Ann Rheum Dis. 2013; 72:350–6.
Article
12. Pincus T, Esther R, DeWalt DA, Callahan LF. Social conditions and self-management are more powerful determinants of health than access to care. Ann Intern Med. 1998; 129:406–11.
Article
13. Callahan LF, Smith WJ, Pincus T. Self-report questionnaires in five rheumatic diseases: comparisons of health status constructs and associations with formal education level. Arthritis Care Res. 1989; 2:122–31.
Article
14. Jolly M, Mikolaitis RA, Shakoor N, Fogg LF, Block JA. Education, zip code-based annualized household income, and health outcomes in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. J Rheumatol. 2010; 37:1150–7.
Article
15. Bertoli AM, Vilá LM, Reveille JD, Alarcón GS. LUMINA study group. Systemic lupus erythaematosus in a multiethnic US cohort (LUMINA) LIII: disease expression and outcome in acute onset lupus. Ann Rheum Dis. 2008; 67:500–4.
Article
16. Al Dhanhani AM, Gignac MA, Su J, Fortin PR. Work disability in systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis Rheum. 2009; 61:378–85.
Article
17. Healey EL, Haywood KL, Jordan KP, Garratt AM, Packham JC. Disease severity in ankylosing spondylitis: variation by region and local area deprivation. J Rheumatol. 2010; 37:633–8.
Article
18. Tam LS, Chan KY, Li EK. The influence of illness and variables associated with functional limitations in Chinese patients with ankylosing spondylitis. J Rheumatol. 2007; 34:1032–9.
19. Felson DT, Anderson JJ, Boers M, Bombardier C, Chernoff M, Fried B, et al. The American College of Rheumatology preliminary core set of disease activity measures for rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials. The committee on outcome measures in rheumatoid arthritis clinical trials. Arthritis Rheum. 1993; 36:729–40.
20. Arnett FC, Edworthy SM, Bloch DA, McShane DJ, Fries JF, Cooper NS, et al. The American Rheumatism Association 1987 revised criteria for the classification of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1988; 31:315–24.
Article
21. Aletaha D, Neogi T, Silman AJ, Funovits J, Felson DT, Bingham CO 3rd, et al. 2010 Rheumatoid arthritis classification criteria: an American College of Rheumatology/ European League against rheumatism collaborative initiative. Arthritis Rheum. 2010; 62:2569–81.
22. Lee SS, Park MJ, Yoon HJ, Park YW, Park IH, Park KS. Evaluating the Korean version of the multidimensional health assessment questionnaire in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Rheumatol. 2006; 25:353–7.
Article
23. Anderson JK, Zimmerman L, Caplan L, Michaud K. Measures of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity: patient (PtGA) and provider (PrGA) global assessment of disease activity, disease activity score (DAS) and disease activity score with 28-Joint counts (DAS28), simplified disease activity index (SDAI), clinical disease activity index (CDAI), patient activity score (PAS) and patient activity score-II (PASII), routine assessment of patient index data (RAPID), rheumatoid arthritis disease activity index (RADAI) and rheumatoid arthritis disease activity Index-5 (RADAI-5), chronic arthritis systemic index (CASI), patient-based disease activity score with ESR (PDAS1) and patient-based disease activity score without ESR (PDAS2), and mean overall index for rheumatoid arthritis (MOI-RA). Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2011; 63(Suppl 11):S14–36.
24. Aletaha D, Smolen J. The simplified disease activity index (SDAI) and the clinical disease activity index (CDAI): a review of their usefulness and validity in rheumatoid arthritis. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2005; 23(5 Suppl 39):S100–8.
25. Pincus T, Yazici Y, Bergman M. A practical guide to scoring a multi-dimensional health assessment questionnaire (MDHAQ) and routine assessment of patient index data (RAPID) scores in 10-20 seconds for use in standard clinical care, without rulers, calculators, websites or computers. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2007; 21:755–87.
26. Callahan LF, Pincus T. Formal education level as a significant marker of clinical status in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1988; 31:1346–57.
Article
27. Kwon JM, Rhee J, Ku H, Lee EK. Socioeconomic and employ-ment status of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Korea. Epidemiol Health. 2012; 34:e2012003.
Article
28. Greenberger NJ, Davies NE, Maynard EP, Wallerstein RO, Hildreth EA, Clever LH. Universal access to health care in America: a moral and medical imperative. Ann Intern Med. 1990; 112:637–9.
Article
29. Masseria C, Giannoni M. Equity in access to health care in Italy: a disease-based approach. Eur J Public Health. 2010; 20:504–10.
Article
30. Rademakers J, Delnoij D, Nijman J, de Boer D. Educational inequalities in patient-centred care: patients' preferences and experiences. BMC Health Serv Res. 2012; 12:261.
Article
31. Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty K. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011; 155:97–107.
Article
32. Zimmer Z, House JS. Education, income, and functional limitation transitions among American adults: contrasting onset and progression. Int J Epidemiol. 2003; 32:1089–97.
Article
33. Putrik P, Sokka T, Ramiro S, Boonen A. Impact of socioeconomic gradients within and between countries on health of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA): lessons from QUEST RA. Best Pract Res Clin Rheumatol. 2012; 26:705–20.
Article
Full Text Links
  • JRD
Actions
Cited
CITED
export Copy
Close
Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
Similar articles
Copyright © 2024 by Korean Association of Medical Journal Editors. All rights reserved.     E-mail: koreamed@kamje.or.kr