Abstract
Drug prescribing patterns for the management of inpatients and outpatients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were investigated. The population of patients resembled published epidemiological descriptions of RA patients with respect to age and sex distribution. Multiple drug therapy was common in the treatment of both hospitalised and clinic patients. 90% of all patients with RA received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) therapy, indomethacin and naproxen being the two most frequently prescribed NSAIDs for both in- and outpatients. The vast majority of inpatients (85%) and outpatients (79%) received slow-acting antirheumatic drug (SAARD) treatment. 13% of hospitalised patients received H2-antagonist drugs in addition to their NSAIDs. A high proportion of inpatients (46%) received oral corticosteroids in the management of their rheumatoid arthritis, while only 15% of clinic patients were prescribed corticosteroids.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Hochberg M. C. Adult and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis: current epidemiologic concepts. Epidemiol Rev. 1981;3:27–44. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.epirev.a036238. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Linos A., Worthington J. W., O'Fallon W. M., Kurland L. T. The epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis in Rochester, Minnesota: a study of incidence, prevalence, and mortality. Am J Epidemiol. 1980 Jan;111(1):87–98. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a112878. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Meenan R. F., Yelin E. H., Nevitt M., Epstein W. V. The impact of chronic disease: a sociomedical profile of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 1981 Mar;24(3):544–549. doi: 10.1002/art.1780240315. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- O'Duffy J. D., Luthra H. S. Current status of disease-modifying drugs in progressive rheumatoid arthritis. Drugs. 1984 May;27(5):373–377. doi: 10.2165/00003495-198427050-00001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rasker J. J., Cosh J. A. Cause and age at death in a prospective study of 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1981 Apr;40(2):115–120. doi: 10.1136/ard.40.2.115. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Scott D. L., Coulton B. L., Chapman J. H., Bacon P. A., Popert A. J. The long-term effects of treating rheumatoid arthritis. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1983 Jan;17(1):79–85. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Takavarasha L., Scott D. L., Constable T. J. A pharmacist's audit of antirheumatic drugs. Rheumatol Rehabil. 1982 Nov;21(4):201–205. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/21.4.201. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Wright V., Amos R. Do drugs change the course of rheumatoid arthritis? Br Med J. 1980 Apr 5;280(6219):964–966. doi: 10.1136/bmj.280.6219.964-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]