The Diagnostic Performance of the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism Classification Criteria for Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common inflammatory arthritis with a prevalence rate of approximately 1.0% worldwide. (1) With this disease, progressive joint erosion and deformity cause work disability and mortality; thus, early diagnosis and intervention is crucial to ensure a better prognosis. (2) One of the most common criteria, the 1987 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for RA, has been criticized for its lower sensitivity with regard to early arthritis. (3) Therefore, a joint working group from the ACR and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) developed the 2010 classification criteria to identify and facilitate patients at high risk of persistent disease and erosive damage. (4) This criteria contains four categories (joint involvement, serology, acute-phase reactants, and duration of symptoms), and a score of [greater than or equal to]6/10 is classified as definite RA since the typical pattern of destructive RA seen on radiographs provides sufficient evidence for this diagnosis, precluding the need for applying additional criteria. To date, several studies have evaluated the diagnostic performance and discriminative ability of the 2010 criteria. Hence, the aim of this systemic review was to assess the diagnostic values of the 2010 ACR/EULAR criteria for RA and compare them with the 1987 ACR criteria.