Therapeutic Criteria in Rheumatoid Arthritis

This report summarizes recommendations for uniform therapeutic criteria in rheumatoid arthritis. The need for such criteria arose from the recognition of the confusing language and standards found in the many therapeutic reports on this disease. In an effort to develop common standards for the evaluation of therapy in this condition, the Committee for Therapeutic Criteria of the New York Rheumatism Association was formed in 1945. A number of previous attempts had been made to establish some order in this subject.1 One of the chief difficulties which confronted us was the varied language used in the body and conclusions of articles on therapy which did not lend themselves to any accurate appraisal. For example, in presenting their conclusions, writers reporting results employed such terms as excellent, good, improved, greatly improved, moderately improved, objectively improved and so on. Even investigators using the same methods of therapy have reported their results in