Disease activity and treatment patterns in rheumatoid arthritis in Qatar: Data from the Qatar rheumatoid arthritis registry

Abstract

Introduction/Objectives: To describe disease activity and treatment patterns in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Qatar. Methods: Registry data from consecutive patients who attended routine rheumatology outpatient clinic appointments at the Hamad General Hospital between June 2013 and September 2015 were evaluated. Results: Data on 496 patients (female, 75.8%) were analyzed: 75.6% were rheumatoid factor positive, 79.6% were anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide positive, and 30.6% had erosive arthritis at data collection. Methotrexate (MTX) was the most commonly prescribed synthetic DMARD (in 65.3%): 27% monotherapy, 20.8% combined with hydroxychloroquine or sulfasalazine or leflunomide, and 4.2% triple therapy. Hydroxychloroquine, sulfasalazine, or leflunomide were used by 29.4%, 21.2%, and 13.7% of patients, respectively; <5% of patients used these drugs as monotherapy. One quarter of patients (26.4%) were receiving biologic drugs (etanercept, 9.3%; rituximab, 6%; tocilizumab, 5.6%; adalimumab, 4.4%; abatacept, 0.4%; certolizumab, 0.4%; infliximab, 0.2%). Among patients who were receiving biologic therapy, 32% were on monotherapy. Patients' disease activity status was found to vary according to the employed measure of disease activity, with greater proportions of patients in remission reported using the Disease Activity Score 28 (30.3%) vs. Clinical Disease Activity Index (18%) and the Simple Disease Activity Index (17.5%). Conclusion: Treatment patterns in RA patients in Qatar are similar to those reported in registries worldwide. Therapy commonly includes MTX with an increasing number of patients being on biologic medications. Disease activity status varies according to methodology.

Demographic and Clinical Patterns of Rheumatoid Arthritis in an Emirati Cohort from United Arab Emirates

“…Conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) were the most prescribed medications in our patient cohort with methotrexate being most frequently used (62%). Methotrexate was used in 62.4% and 65.3% of cases in Iran and Qatar, respectively [7, 8, 10–20]. Leflunomide was not preferred as a first line csDMARD in the UAE (11.4%); this is possibly due to its long term side effects, the necessity of regular blood monitoring and the availability of relatively safe and more effective medications.…”