Chinese registry of rheumatoid arthritis (CREDIT): III. The transition of disease activity during follow‐ups and predictors of achieving treatment target

Abstract Aim The Chinese Registry of Rheumatoid Arthritis (CREDIT) is the first nationwide multi‐center prospective rheumatoid arthritis (RA) registration cohort in China. This study aimed at presenting disease activities transition during follow‐ups and identifying predictors to treatment response. Method Patients who had baseline, 3‐ and 6‐month follow‐up data from November 2016 to April 2018 were recruited. Then, we selected patients who did not reach remission (REM)/low disease activity (LDA) at baseline to investigate the predictors for treatment response. Results There were 979 patients included (83.00% female, mean age 51.8 and median duration 3.84 years). REM/LDA rate at baseline, 3‐, and 6‐month follow‐up were 34.02%, 59.35% and 68.23%. Additionally, early RA has more chance to achieve targets than established RA (6 months: 59.79% vs 48.13%, P = .002). High baseline Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS28) (early RA: odds ratio [OR] 1.319, P = .019; established RA: OR 1.337, P < .001), biologic disease‐modifying anti‐rheumatic drugs (bDMARD)/targeted synthetic DMARD combined conventional DMARD therapy (early RA: OR 9.023, P = .046) and prednisolone usage (early RA: OR 2.526, P < .001) are positively associated with Clinical Disease Assessment Index (CDAI) decreasing at 3 months. Low baseline DAS28 (REM/LDA: early RA: OR 0.650, P < .001; established RA: OR 0.612, P < .001. REM: early RA: OR 0.743, P = .021; established RA: OR 0.674, P < .001), young age (REM: early RA: OR 0.977, P = .048) and decrease of CDAI at 3 months (REM/LDA: early RA: OR 7.185, P < .001; established RA: OR 8.752, P < .001. REM: early RA: OR 5.602, P < .001; established RA: OR 4.955, P < .001) predict REM/LDA at 6 months. Conclusion Disease activity decreased during follow‐ups. Disease duration, baseline disease activity, age, treatment strategies, and CDAI decreasing were associated with treatment response.