Agreement between parents and physicians regarding clinical evaluation of patients with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

The reliability of disease severity assessed by parents of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis was studied by a self-report questionnaire. Parents of 50 patients with a minimum disease duration of 6 months and two physicians participated. Good agreement was achieved between parents and physicians regarding global assessment of disease severity, pain, morning stiffness and activities of daily life. For joint swelling and restriction of movement, the physicians scored higher than did the parents. The findings demonstrate that, with some reservations, a parent questionnaire may be used in follow-up studies on children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.