Clinical assessment and clinical trials in rheumatoid arthritis.

Important progress has been reported over the past year on evaluation and standardization of disease activity variables in rheumatoid arthritis and their relation to outcome measures. Core sets of variables have been established both in the United States and Europe, showing a high degree of resemblance. A recently proposed classification of antirheumatic drugs seeks to make a clear distinction between drugs that modify symptoms and those that actually control the disease. This classification may have a definite impact on design and methodology of future clinical trials.