Rheumatology function tests: grip strength, walking time, button test and questionnaires document and predict longterm morbidity and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis.

Four quantitative measures of functional status, grip strength, walking time, the button test, and a questionnaire regarding activities of daily living, were assessed nine years apart in 75 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). After 9 years, 20 patients had died; none were lost to followup. Functional status had declined in more than 80% of patients according to each of the 4 measures, and patients with poor values at baseline were most likely to die over the next 5 years, as reported. We report that baseline values of these measures of functional status were predictive of values 9 years later. These measures may be regarded as "rheumatology function tests" to document and predict morbidity and mortality in RA over long periods.