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Introduction There is a lack of consensus about the defi nition of flof rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and a measurement tool. Objectives To develop a self-administered tool integrating the perspectives of the patient and the rheumatologist, enabling the detection of present or recent-past RA fl Methods The patient perspective was explored by semistructured individual interviews of patients with RA. Two health psychologists conducted a content analysis to extract items best describing fl are from the interviews. The physician’s perspective was explored through a Delphi exercise conducted among a panel of 13 rheumatologists. A comprehensive list of items produced in the fi rst round was reduced in a four-round Delphi process to select items cited by at least 75% of the respondents. The identifi ed elements were assembled in domains—each converted into a statement—to constitute the fi nal self-administered Flare Assessment in Rheumatoid Arthritis (FLARE) questionnaire. Results The content of 99 patient interviews was analysed, and 10 domains were identifi ed: joint swelling or pain, night pain, fatigue and different emotional consequences, as well as analgesic intake. The Delphi process for physicians identifi ed eight domains related to objective RA symptoms and drug intake, of which only four were common to domains for patients. Finally, 13 domains were retained in the FLARE questionnaire, formulated as 13 statements with a Likert-scale response modality of six answers ranging from ‘absolutely true’ to ‘completely untrue’. Conclusion Two different methods, for patient and physician perspectives, were used to develop the FLARE self-administered questionnaire, which can identify past or present RA fl