Polypharmacy in RA tied to several comorbidities

Polypharmacy occurs generally in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with a prevalence of 67.9 percent, and has shown a relationship with a number of comorbidities, according to a study. The researchers stress the need for solutions in managing this problem.

This cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted in Brazil, evaluating the prevalence and factors associated with polypharmacy in a population in a real-life setting. Patients underwent clinical assessment and medical records analysis. The researchers considered polypharmacy as a dependent variable. Finally, they used Poisson regression to test the independent variables.

A total of 792 patients (median age 56.6 years, 89 percent female) were included in the analysis. The median disease duration was 12.7 years, with 78.73 percent having a positive rheumatoid factor.

The median of disease activity score-28 stood at 3.5 (disease with mild activity); the median of clinical disease activity index score was 9; and the median of health assessment questionnaire-disability index was 0.875. Of the patients, 47 percent used corticosteroids, 9.1 percent used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, 90.9 percent used synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), and 35.7 percent used biologic DMARDs.

Overall, 67.9 percent of patients (n=537) took at least five drugs. Polypharmacy was associated with several comorbidities and use of specific drugs (eg, corticosteroids, methotrexate, and biological DMARDs).

“RA is associated with high frequency of comorbidities and increased risk of polypharmacy,” the researchers noted.