EULAR points to consider for the management of difficult-to-treat-rheumatoid arthritis (Part 7)
Let us continue with the discussion of the points to consider (PtC) for Rheumatology (EULAR) for the management of difficult to treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2T RA) as developed by the Task Force of the European Alliance of Associations
The Task Force unanimously agreed on the PtC that treatment adherence should be discussed and optimised within the process of shared decision-making between the patient and the physician.
In RA, drug non-adherence rates vary between 30% and 80% and these rates are linked to be substantially higher in patients with D2T RA compared with patients with non-D2T RA.
Suboptimal adherence is linked with higher disease activity levels, which may lead to inappropriate treatment switches and reduced quality of life.
Among patients with D2T RA, suboptimal adherence to treatment may lead to the exhaustion of available treatments such as disease modifying anti-rheumatism drugs (DMARDS)
Another EULAR project has provided detailed PtCs for the detection, assessment and management of non-adherence in people with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).
The Task Force agreed to concur with World Health Organization (WHO) definitions and treatment strategies.
There is no gold standard for identifying non-adherence to treatments as intentional non-adherence to treatment is common among patients of D2T RA.
We will continue this discussion about this next week.