THU0106 PREDICTORS OF FLARE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS WITH LOW DISEASE ACTIVITY

Abstract

Background:Low disease activity (LDA) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are usually recognized as stable state. In according to most guidelines for RA, monotherapy of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DAMRD) was recommended for RA patents with LDA. But some of patients with LDA suffer from flare in their disease course. Until now, we don’t have enough data on factors that can predict flare in RA patients with LDA.Objectives:The aim of this study is to evaluate predictor of flare in RA patient with LDA from long-term (3 year) cohort data.Methods:Korean observational study network for arthritis (KORONA) registry is a nationwide Korean RA specific cohort registry that collecting data annually from 5,376 RA patients in 23 centers across South Korea. We include the data from 1, 801 RA patients with LDA (28 –joint disease activity score (DAS 28) < 3.2 at enrollment) who had consecutive data of DAS28 for 3 years. Flare was defined as an increase in DAS28 compared with baseline of >1.2 or >0.6 if concurrent DAS28 ≥3.2. Cox regression analysis was used to identify baseline predictors of flare.Results:Among 1,801 RA patients, 673 patients (37.4%) experienced flare in 3 years. When we compare the baseline characteristics of both flare and non-flare group, more women and more non-adherent patients for medication were observed in flare group. Flare group had longer disease duration, lower EuroQol 5D score, higher health assessment questionnaire (HAQ) score, and higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) than non-flare group at baseline. In multivariate analysis, physician’s VAS, HAQ score, ESR, and poor adherence for medication were significant predictors of flare (Table 1).Table 1.Multivariate analysis of prediction of flare with baseline variablesMeasureHazard ratio95% Confidence IntervalP-valueFemale1.1300.906-1.4090.280Age0.9960.988-1.0050.414Physician’s VAS1.0081.002-1.013<0.01Pain VAS1.0020.998-1.0060.34EQ5D0.9520.534-1.6960.87HAQ1.4071.109-1.786<0.01ESR1.0081.002-1.014<0.01Poor adherence1.2721.047-1.545<0.05VAS: Visual Analogue Scale; EQ5D: EuroQol 5D; HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire; ESR: Erythrocyte Sedimentation RateConclusion:RA patient who have risk factors for flare, even though their disease activity was low, require more proactive treatment.