To examine the value of optical spectral transmission (OST) in detecting joint inflammation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to evaluate whether OST correlates with certain patient characteristics.
OST measurements were performed in the metacarpophalangeal, proximal intraphalangeal, and wrist joints of 168 patients with RA and 114 controls. OST difference between the 2 groups was statistically examined and subsequently controlled for the effect of possible confounding factors. Diagnostic OST performance was tested by receiver-operating characteristics. Moreover, associations of OST with clinical and serological activity markers (patient group), joint ultrasound (US; patient subgroup) and various anthropometric and epidemiologic parameters (patient and control group) were evaluated by Spearman correlation coefficient and a generalized linear statistical adjustment model.
OST was significantly higher in the RA group than in the control group, even after adjustment for confounding factors (1.89; 95% CI 0.709-3.070, p
Patients with RA showed higher OST values in comparison to controls. Moreover, OST associated with clinical, US, and laboratory disease activity markers.