PMS76 - Drug Utilization Patterns For Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Various medications are commonly used to manage Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). This study examined drug utilization patterns and factors associated with the use of medications by RA patients. Data from the 2006-2010 National Ambulatory Care Survey (NAMCS) and the outpatient department component of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) were used to examine the RA related ambulatory visits. RA medications were classified as NSAIDS and analgesics, corticosteroids, and disease modifying Anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Bivariate chi-square analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to evaluate the factors associated with prescribing of RA medications. SAS survey procedures that adjust for the complex sampling procedure of national surveys were used to conduct bivariate and multivariate analyses. An average of 3.57 million (0.33%) visits was made by patients with RA from 2006 to 2010. Majority of these visits were made by females (76.75%), Whites (88.50%) and individuals aged 18-64 years old (61.53%). More than two third of the RA patients were prescribed anti-rheumatic drugs (70.75%). The most commonly prescribed anti-rheumatic drugs were NSAIDs and Analgesics (75.60%), DMARDs (20.40%) and Corticosteroids (4.00%). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that females (OR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.32-0.95), individuals aged group 18 to 64 years (OR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.29-0.78) were less likely to receive anti-rheumatic drugs, whereas those seeking care from rheumatologists (OR: 4.38; 95% CI: 2.19-8.77) and those with multiple previous visits (OR: 1.43; 95% CI: 1.26-1.62) were more likely to receive anti rheumatic drugs. Most (7 out of 10) visits for the RA involved use of anti-rheumatic drugs. Drug use patterns varied across age, gender, physician specialty, and previous use of health care. Further research is needed to evaluate the variation across drug classes for RA.