Perspectives of Glucocorticoid Use in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Prednisolone is an effective oral glucocorticoid for managing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) but has predictable and common adverse effects. We explored patient perspectives of prednisolone use in RA.

Patients with RA registered with the Australian Rheumatology Association Database (ARAD) who had completed an ARAD questionnaire in the preceding 12 months were invited to participate in an online survey. Responses were linked to already collected respondent demographics, medication use, and patient-reported outcome measures. The Beliefs about Medicine Questionnaire (BMQ) measured patient beliefs on medication necessity and concerns. Free-text responses outlining reasons for stopping or declining prednisolone underwent thematic analysis using NVivo 12.

The survey response rate was 79.6% (804/1010), including 251 (31.2%) reporting current prednisolone use and 432 (53.7%) reporting previous use. Compared with previous users, current users were older (P = 0.0002) and had worse self-reported pain, disease activity, health-related quality of life, and function (all P < 0.001). Current users had higher BMQ scores for prednisolone-specific necessity (3.6 versus 1.7; P <0.001) and concerns (2.7 versus 2.3; P <0.001). In previous prednisolone users (n = 432), the most frequent themes identified in free-text responses for cessation were adequate disease control (30.3%), adverse effects (25.2%), and predetermined short courses (21.3%). Of respondents citing adverse effects for cessation (n = 131), weight gain (27.5%), osteoporosis (14.7%), and neuropsychiatric issues (13.8%) were most frequent.

In our cohort, patients with RA taking prednisolone believed it was necessary yet remained concerned about its use. Adequate disease control and adverse effects were important considerations for patients using prednisolone.