Predictors of unacceptable pain and the impact of sociodemographic factors and comorbidities—results from a large, nationwide cohort of early rheumatoid arthritis
Authors' conclusion
Factors beyond inflammation contribute significantly to unacceptable pain at follow-up in RA.
Study context
- Population
- Patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Sweden in 2012–20203,427 with data at 2 years
- Participants
- 10,297 patients
- Outcome
- Unacceptable pain (Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) pain > 40 mm) and unacceptable pain with low inflammation (CRP < 10 mg/L)
- Follow-up
- 1 and 2 years
Methodological detailsnationwide, register-based, logistic regression, linear mixed-effect models
- Nationwide
- Register-based
- Logistic regression
- Linear mixed-effect models
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Unacceptable pain at 2 years
Unacceptable pain
1143
33%
Unacceptable pain with low inflammation
808
26%
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Pain over time (baseline to 2 years)
- Predictors of more pain over time: female sex, worse patient-reported outcomes (PROs), low parameters of inflammation, many tender compared with swollen joints
- Also associated with more pain over time: smoking, non-European origin, psychiatric or pain-related comorbidity
Original publication
Predictors of unacceptable pain and the impact of sociodemographic factors and comorbidities—results from a large, nationwide cohort of early rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. Published 19 June 2026. doi:10.
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