['Clinical joint activity is a strong predictor of joint damage in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but progression of damage might increase despite clinical inactivity of the respective joint (silent progression). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of silent joint progression, but particularly on the patient level and to investigate the duration of clinical inactivity as a marker for non-progression on the joint level.', '279 patients with RA with any radiographic progression over an observational period of 3-5\u2005years were included. We obtained radiographic and clinical data of 22 hand/finger joints over a period of at least 3\u2005years. Prevalence of silent progression and associations of clinical joint activity and radiographic progression were evaluated.', '120 (43.0%) of the patients showed radiographic progression in at least one of their joints without any signs of clinical activity in that respective joint. In only 7 (5.8%) patients, such silent joint progression would go undetected, as the remainder had other joints with clinical activity, either with (n=84; 70.0%) or without (n=29; 24.2%) accompanying radiographic progression. Also, the risk of silent progression decreases with duration of clinical activity.'] Does clinical joint inactivity predict structural stability in patients with established rheumatoid arthritis?