Deane KD, Striebich CC, Goldstein BL et al. Arthritis Rheum 2009;61:1642–9.
The focus of modern treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is on the prevention of chronic damage and the acquisition of characteristics of chronicity. Although it is not know when a critical window of opportunity in terms of prevention of chronic damage has passed, the consensus is that the earlier treatment starts, the better. Thus, identifying and referring patients to a rheumatologist earlier would be beneficial. It was found in this investigation conducted at a health fair, that a combination of a questionnaire and serology testing had clinically useful accuracy in detecting patients with early inflammatory arthritis.
Health fairs are becoming increasingly popular in the US. They aim to improve health and education, and sometimes diagnosis, without the need for an individual to visit a healthcare provider. Typically held at sites such as schools, churches, or businesses, they are usually operated by nonprofit organizations and staffed by volunteers. In this study, screening for inflammatory arthritis (IA)/rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was performed at five health fair sites using a combination of the connective tissue disease screening questionnaire (CSQ), joint examination, rheumatoid factor testing, and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibody testing.