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To validate the Quality of Life-Rheumatoid Arthritis Scale II (QOL-RA II) in an Argentinean cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients ≥ 18 years old, with a diagnosis of RA according to ACR-EULAR 2010 criteria, were included in a cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic data, comorbidities, RA characteristics, disease activity, and current treatment were registered. Questionnaires were administered, including EQ-5D-3 L, QOL-RA II, HAQ-A, and PHQ-9. The QOL-RA II was re-administered in 20 patients to evaluate reproducibility. Four hundred and thirty patients were included. Median QOL-RA was 6.6 (IQR 5.3–8). Mean time to complete it was 1.7 ± 0.57 min and to calculate it was 12 ± 1.7 s. It showed very good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha 0.97), reproducibility (ICC, 0.96), and good correlation between the different items and the total questionnaire, without evidence of redundancy. Besides, QOL-RA II presented good correlation with EQ-5D-3L (Rho, 0.6) and moderate with DAS28 (Rho, 0.38), and CDAI (Rho, 0.46). Worse quality of life was observed in patients not doing physical activity, unemployed, and current smokers. Patients with higher disease activity had a significant poorer quality of life. Adjusting by age, sex and disease duration, unemployment, higher disease activity, disability, and the presence of depression were independently associated to worse quality of life. QOL-RA II demonstrated good construct validity, reproducibility, and reliability. It was easy to complete and calculate and does not require a license for its use, thus making it the optimal tool for assessing the quality of life in Spanish-speaking patients with RA.

To validate the Quality of Life-Rheumatoid Arthritis Scale II (QOL-RA II) in an Argentinean cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Patients ≥ 18 years old, with a diagnosis of RA according to ACR-EULAR 2010 criteria, were included in a cross-sectional study. Sociodemographic data, comorbidities, RA characteristics, disease activity, and current treatment were registered. Questionnaires were administered, including EQ-5D-3 L, QOL-RA II, HAQ-A, and PHQ-9. The QOL-RA II was re-administered in 20 patients to evaluate reproducibility. Four hundred and thirty patients were included. Median QOL-RA was 6.6 (IQR 5.3-8). Mean time to complete it was 1.7 ± 0.57 min and to calculate it was 12 ± 1.7 s. It showed very good reliability (Cronbach's alpha 0.97), reproducibility (ICC, 0.96), and good correlation between the different items and the total questionnaire, without evidence of redundancy. Besides, QOL-RA II presented good correlation with EQ-5D-3L (Rho, 0.6) and moderate with DAS28 (Rho, 0.38), and CDAI (Rho, 0.46). Worse quality of life was observed in patients not doing physical activity, unemployed, and current smokers. Patients with higher disease activity had a significant poorer quality of life. Adjusting by age, sex and disease duration, unemployment, higher disease activity, disability, and the presence of depression were independently associated to worse quality of life. QOL-RA II demonstrated good construct validity, reproducibility, and reliability. It was easy to complete and calculate and does not require a license for its use, thus making it the optimal tool for assessing the quality of life in Spanish-speaking patients with RA. Key Points • The evaluation of quality of life is very important in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. • Most of the questionnaires used to assess the quality of life require a license to use. • QOL-RA II is a valid and simple questionnaire to evaluate the quality of life of patients with RA and does not require a license for its use.

To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and major CVD risk factors among rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients enrolled in a large US and multinational registry. We compared CVD and CVD risk factor prevalence from 11 countries enrolled in the CORRONA US and CORRONA International registries; patients from the 10 ex-US participating countries were grouped by region (Eastern Europe, Latin America, and India). Unadjusted summary data were presented for demographics and disease characteristics; comparisons for prevalence of CVD risk factors and CVD were age/gender standardized to the age/gender distribution of the US enrolled patients. Overall, 25,987 patients were included in this analysis. Compared to patients from the ex-US regions, US participants had longer disease duration and lower disease activity, yet were more likely to receive a biologic agent. Additionally, CORRONA US participants had the highest body mass index (BMI). Enrolled patients in India had the lowest BMI, were more rarely smokers, and had a low prevalence of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and prior CVD compared to the US and other ex-US regions. Participants from Eastern Europe had a higher prevalence of hypertension and hyperlipidemia and highest prevalence of all manifestations of CVD. Differences in the prevalence of both CVD and major CVD risk factors were observed across the four regions investigated. Observed differences may be influenced by variations in both non-modifiable/modifiable characteristics of patient populations, and may contribute to heterogeneity on the observed safety of investigational and approved therapies in studies involving RA patients from different origins.