Prescription Patterns in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Prospective Cross-Sectional...

Area of Science:

• Rheumatology
• Pharmacology
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a global, chronic, systemic inflammatory disease.
• Medication prescription is a cornerstone of RA management.
• Understanding prescription patterns is crucial for optimizing patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the drug prescription patterns for rheumatoid arthritis patients.
• To analyze demographic and comorbidity profiles influencing treatment decisions.
• To assess the utilization of different drug classes in RA management.

Main Methods:

• Prospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study design.
• Inclusion of 95 rheumatoid arthritis patients.
• Data collection on demographics, comorbidities, and prescriptions, followed by analysis.

Main Results:

• RA predominantly affects middle-aged females (41-60 years; 66.3%) with moderate disease duration (3-5 years; 55.8%).
• Common comorbidities include hypertension (21.1%) and diabetes (16.8%).
• Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) were most prescribed (90.5%), particularly methotrexate (75.8%), followed by NSAIDs (64.2%) and corticosteroids (51.6%); biologics were limited (8.4%).

Conclusions:

• Rheumatoid arthritis impacts middle-aged females, often with comorbidities.
• Current treatment strategies show a strong preference for conventional DMARDs like methotrexate.
• Underutilization of biologics suggests potential areas for therapeutic advancement in RA management.