Effective initial and long-term prednisone in doses of less than 5 mg/day to treat rheumatoid arthritis--documentation using a patient self-report Multidimensional Health Assessment Questionnaire (MDHAQ).

The efficacy of initial and long-term prednisone < 5 mg/ day in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by one academic rheumatologist over 25 years from 1980 to 2004 is summarized. Patient responses were assessed using a multidimensional health assessment questionnaire (MDHAQ), completed by all patients at all visits in the infrastructure of care. A database was maintained of all visits, which included medications and scores for physical function, pain, patient global estimate of status, and routine assessment of patient index data (RAPID3), an index of these 3 measures. Prednisone doses were higher in patients with more severe MDHAQ/RAPID3 scores, as expected, although formal criteria were not used to determine the initial dose. Similar improvements were seen in clinical status over 12 months in patients treated with < 5 vs ≥ 5 mg/day prednisone and maintained for > 8 years. Adverse effects were primarily bruising and skin-thinning; levels of hypertension, diabetes, and cataracts were not higher than expected, including in 148 patients monitored over > 4 years, 75 over > 8 years. Prednisone at initial and long-term doses of < 5 mg/day appears acceptable and effective for many patients with RA at this time, although further clinical trials and long-term observational studies are needed to optimize treatment of patients with RA with low-dose prednisone. The data also illustrate that MDHAQ scores in usual clinical care can be used to document results of therapy over long periods with no extra work for the physician.