The Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry: A unique population in rheumatoid arthritis research

Ted R Mikuls; Joshua F Baker; Grant W Cannon; Bryant R England; Gail Kerr; Andreas Reimold

doi:10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152580

The Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry: A unique population in rheumatoid arthritis research

Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2024 Nov 9:152580. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152580. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Ted R Mikuls¹, Joshua F Baker², Grant W Cannon³, Bryant R England⁴, Gail Kerr⁵, Andreas Reimold⁶

Affiliations

¹ Division of Rheumatology, VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System & University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA. Electronic address: tmikuls@unmc.edu.
² Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ VA Salt Lake City Health Care System and University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
⁴ Division of Rheumatology, VA Nebraska Western Iowa Health Care System & University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁵ Washington D.C. VA, Howard University, & Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA.
⁶ Dallas VA & University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, TX, USA.

PMID: 39580339
DOI: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2024.152580

Abstract

Background: As the largest integrated healthcare system in the U.S., the Veterans Affairs (VA) provides a unique context for the conduct of clinical and clinical-translational research in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Objectives: To review attributes of the VA Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry (RA) and highlight its research contributions.

Findings: With >3,600 participants enrolled from 19 VA medical centers across the U.S., VARA includes longitudinally collected clinical data and a central biorepository that includes serum, plasma, and DNA collected at enrollment. VARA research capacity is enhanced via active linkages with internal data including the VA's Corporate Data Warehouse and elements captured during oncology care. This capacity is further enabled via active linkages with the National Death Index and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data.

Conclusion: As a highly unique study population with comprehensive data annotation available to researchers, VARA is poised to continue address impactful questions in RA for years to come.

Keywords: Cohort; Registry; Research; Rheumatoid arthritis.