Does the ACR/EULAR TIS capture how patients with AIM feel?

The American College of Rheumatology/European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (ACR/EULAR) Total Improvement Score (TIS) may be used in research autoimmune inflammatory myopathies (AIM), according to a study.

However, TIS also has certain limitations in depicting outcomes across the broader AIM spectrum, especially among older individuals and those with longer disease duration.

Sixty-five patients with active disease for whom TIS could be calculated were included in the study. Of these, 40 percent showed no improvement, 34 percent achieved minimal improvement, and 26 percent had moderate improvement at 1 year.

In adjusted models, an increase in absolute TIS correlated with significant improvements in pain, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Short Form v1.0 Fatigue 8a, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy – Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) scale, and 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) physical component summary scores.

Furthermore, a significant interaction was observed between age and TIS in FACIT-Fatigue. Stratified analyses revealed significant improvements in pain and FACIT-Fatigue scores only among patients with shorter disease duration.

In the study, the researchers identified adult patients with AIM and active disease at baseline who completed a 1-year follow-up visit from a research cohort.

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measured were as follows: a numerical rating scale for pain, FACIT-Fatigue scale, PROMIS, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and SF-36 physical and mental component summary scores.

The research team used multivariable linear regression models to determine the absolute chance in PRO scores for each 20-unit increase in absolute TIS.