Clinical and Structural Associations of Disability and Gait Performance in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in Remission and Metatarsal Pain

In RA remission with metatarsal-region forefoot pain, perceived disability is mainly associated with pain and forefoot stiffness, whereas gait performance is more closely related to age/BMI and graded forefoot structural severity. These findings support severity-based region-specific structural assessment alongside pain evaluation in clinical follow-up, to avoid underestimating the independent contribution of structural damage to function and gait.