High Levels of Polypharmacy in Rheumatoid Arthritis-A Challenge Not Covered by Current Management Recommendations:...

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Clinical Pharmacy
• Public Health

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is frequently associated with comorbidities, increasing the risk of polypharmacy.
• A significant gap exists in the literature regarding polypharmacy management in RA patients.
• Understanding polypharmacy is crucial for managing RA complications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of polypharmacy in a real-world RA patient population.
• To identify factors associated with polypharmacy in rheumatoid arthritis.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted in Brazil.
• Data collected through clinical evaluation and medical record analysis.
• Poisson regression was used to analyze factors associated with polypharmacy.

Main Results:

• 67.9% of 792 RA patients (89% female, median age 56.6) exhibited polypharmacy (≥5 drugs).
• Polypharmacy correlated with comorbidities and the use of corticosteroids, methotrexate, and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs).
• High usage rates of synthetic DMARDs (90.9%) and biologic DMARDs (35.7%) were observed.

Conclusions:

• A high prevalence of polypharmacy (67.9%) was identified in the studied RA population.
• Effective strategies for managing polypharmacy in RA are urgently needed.
• Further research and clinical interventions are required to address this issue.