Leflunomide improves quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis

Functional disability in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) interferes with activities of daily living and severely affects patient quality of life. It results in increased levels of work disability and high medical costs. A new goal of RA therapy is to reduce or prevent functional disability. Patients' perception of overall health status in RA was assessed using several instruments (HAQ, MHAQ, SF-36, and PET) in Phase III double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trials comparing the new DMARD, leflunomide to sulfasalazine and methotrexate. Leflunomide significantly improved patient quality of life compared to placebo in both the European (P = 0.0001) and North American (P = 0.0001) studies. Reduction in HAQ scores with leflunomide (-0.50 vs -0.29; P = 0.0086) was significantly greater than sulfasalazine. Leflunomide also significantly reduced MHAQ scores versus methotrexate (-0.29 vs -0.15; P < or = 0.05). These changes were seen as early as Week 4. These results highlight the efficacy of leflunomide in RA therapy.