About
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is marked by unpredictable periods of disease worsening, commonly referred to as flares. These episodes have a major impact on pain, function, quality of life, growth, and treatment decisions. Despite their importance, there is currently no agreed or validated way to define or measure flares in JIA clinical trials.
Flare rate is increasingly used as an outcome, particularly in withdrawal-controlled trials, yet definitions vary widely across studies. This lack of consistency limits comparison of trial results and weakens evidence to guide treatment decisions. Existing JIA outcome measures largely focus on improvement, while flare captures disease worsening and long-term disease dynamics that matter to patients, families, and clinicians.
Developing a clear, patient-centered definition and measurement approach for JIA flares aligns directly with OMERACT’s mission to improve the quality, relevance, and comparability of outcome measurement in rheumatology research. Previous OMERACT workshops identified flare as a missing but essential domain within the JIA Core Domain Set, but focused methodological work has not yet been undertaken.
This Working Group brings together an international, multidisciplinary team, including Patient Research Partners, to address this gap. Its goal is to develop a consensus-based, validated flare outcome that can be used consistently across JIA clinical trials and longitudinal studies.
