Background/Purpose: A 1979 report by Huskisson, who developed the 0-10 pain visual analog scale (VAS) , entitled “Another look at osteoarthritis” indicated mean pain VAS scores of 5.3 in osteoarthritis RA (OA) and 5.25 in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (Table). The earliest RAPID3 (routine assessment of patient index data) scores compiled in OA were 11.0 in 2009 and 11.7-13.6 in RA in 1989-2009. We analyzed subsequent databases from routine care which included pain and RAPID3 scores in patients with OA or RA, some of which also included 28 swollen joint counts (SJC) in patients with RA, presented to support credibility of the RA findings with recognized considerable improvement in inflammatory activity in RA, for comparisons of pain scores over time.

Methods: Available reports from routine care databases which included a 0-10 pain VAS in patients with RA or OA from 1979-2024, RAPID3 from 1989-2024, and 28 SJC in RA from 1985-2024 were compiled. Some reports presented mean and others median data; differences between median and mean values were less than 10% in reports which included both. Many reports were from a single investigator, and all but one of the databases were from the United States.

Results: Mean pain 0-10 VAS score reported in OA was 5.3 in 1979 and medians and means ranged from 3.9 to 7.0 through 2024, including 7.0 in 2024. Mean pain VAS in RA was 5.25 in 1979 and medians and means ranged from 2.5 to 5.5 through 2024, including 5.5 in 2024. Initial mean RAPID3 scores were 12.7 in OA and 13.6 in RA in 1989 (retrospectively computed according to group data); medians and means and ranged from 10.3 to 16.8 in OA and 6.2 to 13.3 in RA through 2024, including 14.0 in OA and 13.3 in RA in 2024. By contrast, mean SJC in RA was 12/28 in 1989 and ranged from 1.4 to 6.2 through 2024, including 1.4 in 2024 (data included to support credibility of non-SJC data).

Conclusion: Mean or median pain scores were similar in reports of OA and RA databases over 45 years from 1979 to 2024. Furthermore, RAPID3 in OA and RA were similar over 35 years from 1989 through 2024, whereas mean SJC in RA declined from 12 to 1.4 over this period. These findings document the effectiveness of modern anti-inflammatory therapy for RA, but suggest that the perception of status and illness experience for most OA and RA patients have improved minimally over decades. Important limitations of this review include comparisons of mean or median scores, although results were within 10% in databases which included both mean and median, and that all databases were from the USA other than one from Australia. These results are presented in part to encourage reporting of pain scores in OA and RA to recognize and account for possible differences from data presented in this abstract, toward better care and outcomes for OA and RA patients.

Mean or median pain 0–10 visual analog scale (VAS) and 0-30 RAPID3 (routine assessment of patient index data) in routine care patients with osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and 28 swollen joint counts in RA from 1979 to 2024; initial and most recent values in each column are highlighted

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/pain-0-10-visual-analog-scale-vas-and-rapid3-routine-assessment-of-patient-index-data-in-oa-and-ra-are-similar-in-2024-to-1979-and-1989/