New Juvenile Arthritis Questionnaire Shows Promise

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR), a new multidimensional questionnaire for assessment of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, combines the traditional patient-reported outcomes (PRO) used in clinical evaluation with other PRO. The JAMAR provides a promising approach to quantitative measurement that may foster regular use of parent/patient questionnaires in routine practice and contribute to improved quality of care.

Filocamo and coworkers devised 15 parent- or patient-centered measures, including functional ability, pain intensity, health-related quality of life, child’s overall well-being, pain or swelling in joints, morning stiffness, extra-articular symptoms, disease activity, disease status at the time of the visit, disease course, medications the child is taking, adverse effects, difficulties with medication administration, disease-related school problems, and satisfaction with disease outcome. The questionnaire has parent and patient versions.

All parents and children reported that the questionnaire was simple and easy to understand and complete. Comparison of parent proxy-reported and child self-reported data in paired questionnaires showed a striking similarity for most items. The
JAMAR components well characterize differences in level of disease activity and severity. Information was provided about recent medical history.

The authors noted that the questionnaire was designed for regular administration in daily clinical practice rather than as a “measure” for research or clinical trials.