A study published in the 'Current Rheumatology Review' explained that the presence of neuropathic pain (NeP) might affect the attainment of remission in early rheumatoid arthritis (ERA) patients..

NeP is commonly observed in subjects with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and it can affect the disease remission. Until now, these effects were not studied in ERA patients. Salaffi F et al. examined the impact of NeP on the achievement of remission in patients with ERA. 

The study had consecutive patients with moderately or highly active ERA (a score of >11 on the Simplified Disease Activity Index). All the patients had PDQ, the 36-item Short Form Health Survey, and the EuroQoL-5 dimensions (EQ-5D). Their co-morbidity data were used to evaluate their altered Rheumatic Disease Comorbidity Index (mRDCI). The presence or otherwise of NeP in each patient was calculated after 6 months' follow-up along with whether or not the Boolean remission criteria were fulfilled.

A total of 115 patients with 76% being females finished the study. The patients PDQ scores revealed that 13% had probable NeP. Twenty-five patients (21.7%) met the Boolean remission criteria at the end of the follow-up period. As per the logistic regression analysis, the baseline PDQ scores (p=0.0023) and the mRDCI (p=0.0054) were the strongest predictors of not being in Boolean remission. There were only one out of 15 patients with concomitant NeP who achieved Boolean remission.