Comorbidity Profile among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and the Impact on Prescriptions Trend

• Main Authors: J Al-Bishri, SM Attar, Nawal Bassuni, Yasser Al-Nofaiey, Hamed Qutbuddeen, Salma Al-Harthi, Sarah Subahi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2013-01-01
• Series: Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4137/CMAMD.S11481

Comorbid conditions play a pivotal role in rheumatoid arthritis management and outcomes. We estimated the percentage of comorbid illness among rheumatoid arthritis patients and explored the relationship between this comorbidity and different prescriptions. A cross-sectional study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in three centers in Saudi Arabia was carried out. Comorbidity and antirheumatoid medication regimens prescribed were recorded on a specially designed Performa. The association between comorbidity and different drugs was analyzed. A total of 340 patients were included. The most comorbidities were hypertension 122 (35.9%), diabetes 105 (30.9%), osteoporosis 88 (25.8%), and dyslipidemia in 66 (19.4). The most common drug prescribed was prednisolone in 275 (80.8%) patients followed by methotrexate in 253 (74.4%) and biological therapy in 142 (41.5%) patients. Glucocorticoids were prescribed considerably more frequently in hypertensive and diabetic patients as well as in patients with osteoporosis and dyslipidemia. Most patients with rheumatoid arthritis suffered from comorbid diseases.