Influence of frailty on patient global assessment in rheumatoid arthritis

Aim Patient Global Assessment (PtGA; range 0–10 cm) is an important indicator of clinical outcomes, including physical function, in self‐assessment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Frailty is a concept that encompasses not only physical, but also mental, psychological and social vulnerability. This study aimed to investigate the influence of frailty on PtGA in patients with RA. Methods Among 581 patients with RA who completed a questionnaire survey on frailty between June and August 2020, 559 who completed the Kihon Checklist (KCL; a 25‐item questionnaire with seven domains) were included. The proportion of patients with PtGA ≤1 was compared between the frailty (KCL score ≥8), pre‐frailty (KCL score 4–7) and robust (KCL score 0–3) groups. Factors associated with PtGA ≤1 were examined using multivariate logistic regression models. Results Of the 559 patients, 221 (39.5%) had frailty. The proportion of patients with PtGA ≤1 was significantly lower in the frailty group (33.9%) than in the robust (65.4%, P