Huge patient survey suggests RA is undertreated

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Oct 3, 2002

Huge patient survey suggests RA is undertreated

Philadelphia, PA The preliminary results from a European survey of more

than 6000 patients, the majority with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), suggest

that many patients may need more aggressive treatment of their disease. Many

patients rated their current health status lower than did their physicians

and reported being more severely affected by the disease than the physicians

perceived them to be.

The Co-operative on Quality of Life (COP-QoL) survey in rheumatic diseases

and these preliminary findings were discussed at the 2002 Rheumatology

International Roundtable, held in Philadelphia, PA earlier this month; both

the survey and the meeting were sponsored by Schering-Plough/Centocor,

manufacturers of Remicade® (infliximab).

Dr f Smolen, head of the Lainz Hospital Rheumatic Disease Centre and

department of rheumatology at the University of Vienna, Austria and a member

of the COP-QoL survey executive committee, described the huge scale of the

operation. About 6000 patient responses from 11 European countries were

evaluated, 90% of them from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and 10% from

patients with ankylosing spondylitis.

Patients were asked to fill out a detailed questionnaire. Those with RA had

items from the Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index (RADAI), which

asked about joint tenderness and swelling, stiffness and pain, while those

with ankylosing spondylitis had items from the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis

Functional Index (BASFI), which asked about function and coping with daily

life. Other items were taken from the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)

Functional Disability Index (FDI), which asked about activities such as

dressing, walking, etc, and also from the Short-Form 36, which asked social

functioning and emotional problems as well as physical functioning and pain.

Finally, current treatment modalities and clinical disease activity were

assessed.

Results from the survey are due to be presented at the forthcoming American

College of Rheumatology meeting in New Orleans and are also being prepared

for publication