Vol.23 No.2

Original Article

Improvement of health status evaluated by Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2 (AIMS-2) and Short Form-36 (SF-36) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tocilizumab

Authors

Mie Fusama1,2 , Hideko Nakahara3 , Yoshimasa Hamano3 , Masayuki Nishide3 , Keisuke Kawamoto3 , Takashi Hosokawa3 , Satoko Nozato3 , Shinji Higa3 , Tsuyoshi Igarashi3 , Eiji Takeuchi4 , Takanori Kuroiwa5 , Yasunori Shimaoka6, Masao Yukioka6, Yasushi Miura2, Kayoko Higashi1, Taro Kuritani3, Keiji Maeda3

  • Division of Nursing, NTT West Osaka Hospital, Osaka, Japan
  • Department of Rehabilitation Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe, Japan
  • Division of Allergy, Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, NTT West Osaka Hospital, 2-6-40 Karasugatsuji, Tennoji-ku, Osaka, 543-8922, Japan
  • Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, NTT West Osaka Hospital, Osaka, Japan
  • Department of Internal Medicine, Yukioka Hospital, Osaka, Japan
  • Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Yukioka Hospital, Osaka, Japan
Received:

10 January 2012

Accepted:

16 April 2012

Published online:

6 June 2012

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Abstract

Objective To evaluate the improvement of health status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tocilizumab.
Methods Thirty-nine patients were treated with 8 mg/kg tocilizumab every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. Disease activity was assessed by Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI). Improvement of health status was assessed by Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2 (AIMS-2) and Short Form-36 (SF-36).
Results Tocilizumab improved CDAI and SDAI significantly at week 4 compared with at baseline. In the components of AIMS-2, “physical score”, “symptom” and “affect” improved significantly at week 4 compared with at baseline, while “social interaction” did not improve significantly during 24 weeks of tocilizumab therapy. Similarly in SF-36, “bodily pain”, “general health”, “vitality” and “mental health” improved significantly at week 4. The most correlative component of AIMS-2 with CDAI was “symptom”, while “social interaction” did not correlate with CDAI during tocilizumab treatment.
Conclusion The time-course diversity in improvement of health status should be considered to provide proper healthcare when treated with tocilizumab.

Key words

Anti-IL-6 receptor antibody - Health status - IL-6 - QOL - RA