A three-page Standard Protocol to Evaluate Rheumatoid Arthritis (SPERA) for efficient capture of essential data from patients and health professionals in standard clinical care and clinical research

A Standard Protocol to Evaluate Rheumatoid Arthritis (SPERA) has been developed to collect essential data from patients and health professionals to assess, monitor, and document change in standard clinical care and clinical research. Three one-page forms are completed by a health professional assessor, which can be completed at baseline for use at all future visits: (1) clinical features of rheumatoid arthritis (RA); (2) medications taken; and (3) a 42-joint count. The patient also completes a patient questionnaire, and a radiographic scoring sheet can also be included for a comprehensive database. The 15–20minutes involved in completing the SPERA generally add efficiency to subsequent visits in standard clinical care. Collection of additional information for clinical care and/or clinical research is also possible. The SPERA is presented not as an optimal format but rather as an example of a possible approach to develop a common format for core clinical data to be collected in standard clinical care.

Key words: activity, damage, measures, rheumatoid arthritis