Disease Activity Score in 28 joints (DAS-28)

Method

Disease Activity Score in 28 joints: a weighted composite of the 28-joint tender count, the 28-joint swollen count, an acute-phase reactant, and the patient global assessment on a visual analogue scale. Whether the reactant is ESR or CRP is recorded on the edge and is not optional — DAS28-ESR and DAS28-CRP differ systematically by roughly a third of a point and are not interchangeable.

The method is part of the endpoint identity. Studies measuring the same quantity by a different method are held as separate endpoints.

Notes

DAS28 added 2026-08-23. The label already ends "(DAS-28)", but the validator tokenises on whitespace and keeps the hyphen, so the label yields `das-28` while papers write `DAS28` — two different tokens, and a two-pass-agreed curcumin claim was refused on the span "DAS28" for a name the entry already contained. Both spellings are listed rather than one normalised, because normalising hyphens is a change to the scorer and that file is outside this loop's remit. Confused with erythrocyte sedimentation rate and with C-reactive protein, which are INPUTS to this composite rather than parallel endpoints. Pooling this score with its own acute-phase component double-counts that component and manufactures correlation between endpoints presented as independent. Also distinct from the ACR20/50/70 responder proportions, which are dichotomous criteria built on a different core set, and from rheumatoid factor concentration, a serological marker that does not track disease activity over time.

Findings

1 finding from 1 compound, strongest first.

• curcumin — decreases

  BLikelyGrade B, Likely. Human evidence, limited replication or design limits.Finding

  “The pooled analysis demonstrated that curcumin supplementation significantly reduced DAS28 compared with controls (WMD = –1.47, 95% CI [–1.68,–1.26]) (Fig. A).”

  Study

  meta-analysis

  Population

  adults with rheumatoid arthritis

  Effect -1.47 mean difference, 95% CI -1.68 to -1.26

  Effect of curcumin on inflammatory markers and disease activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A meta-analysis.2025PMID:41327719