PROMIS On Par With HAQ Disability Index

The Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ DI) showed excellent agreement with the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) for determining minimal disease activity state among patients with psoriatic arthritis, according to a study published in Arthritis Care & Research.

“Our findings suggest that the PROMIS is an accurate replacement for the HAQ DI, given substantial to excellent agreement between the PROMIS and the HAQ DI-based minimal disease activity definitions,” wrote researchers from Johns Hopkins University, “in cross-sectional as well as longitudinal analyses.”

To gauge the interchangeability of the instruments in calculating whether patients with psoriatic arthritis met definitions of minimal disease activity, researchers collected patient information using both the HAQ DI and PROMIS-Physical Function (PROMIS-PF). Some 352 observations representing 100 patients with psoriatic arthritis were included in the study. At each visit and longitudinally, the HAQ DI was assessed for agreement with the PROMIS-PF short form 4a and PROMIS-PF item bank regarding minimal disease activity state.

Agreement on minimal disease activity state was excellent between the HAQ DI and the PROMIS-PF item bank and PROMIS-PF short form 4a, the study found. Compared with the PROMIS-PF short form 4a, the PROMIS-PF item bank had higher longitudinal agreement with the HAQ DI between consecutive visits.

The area under the receiver operator characteristic curve for predicting HAQ DI minimal disease activity was 0.97 for the PROMIS-PF item bank and 0.95 for the PROMIS-PF short form 4a.

“Our study findings may encourage clinicians who administer the HAQ DI-based measures to switch to the PROMIS-PF. Additionally, institutions that collect the PROMIS-PF need not recollect the HAQ DI for the purposes of calculating minimal disease activity and treat-to-target determination,” researchers wrote. “Given the interchangeability of the PROMIS and the HAQ DI in determining minimal disease activity, the use of the PROMIS-PF offers the advantage of capturing a broader range of physical functioning more efficiently.”

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference:
Chew E, Perin J, Grader-Beck T, Orbai AM. Measurement of minimal disease activity in psoriatic arthritis using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-Physical Function or the Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index. Arthritis Care Res. 2022;74(1):151-160.