Real - rheumatoid arthritis in real life - study cohort: a sociodemographic profile of rheumatoid arthritis in Brazil

Abstract

Background: In Brazil, socioeconomic differences in the incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been demonstrated, which are important in the formulation of hypotheses regarding the association between environmental factors, lifestyle and the risk of disease development. This study examines how the socioeconomic condition of the patient with RA in Brazil, assessed according to social class, educational level, employment situation and use of caregivers, affects the times between the beginning of symptoms and diagnosis and the beginning of the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, as well as the presence of erosive disease and functional status. Methods: This work is part of a multicentric study called REAL-Rheumatoid Arthritis in Real Life in Brazil, which is a prospective observational cohort study. Results: As described in the REAL study, we included a total of 1115 patients. It was noted that patients with an educational classification of up to second grade incomplete presented with erosion percentages above those with a higher grade complete. Patients with caregivers presented a higher percentage of erosion than patients without caregivers. We verified that patients from economic classes above B2 presented fewer occurrences of erosion than those from classes C2, D-E. We also analyzed the average time differences from the beginning of symptoms and diagnosis and the beginning of treatment, according to academic level, erosion and economic classification. Patients with first grade complete showed an HAQ-DI averages higher than those with second grade complete. The patients who had employment showed lower HAQ-DI averages than patients who were not employed. The patients with erosion showed an HAQ-DI value higher than those without erosion. Patients with caregivers showed an HAQ-DI average higher than that of without caregivers.

Systemic autoimmune diseases and work outcomes in Brazil: a scoping review

“…Most studies were cross-sectional. In six studies, the autoimmune rheumatic disease assessed was rheumatoid arthritis [9][10][11][12][13][14] . The remaining two studies evaluated systemic lupus erythematosus 15,16 .…”

“…Sacilotto et al 9 Employment status Individual questionnaire; medical records used as secondary sources…”

Changes in physical function over time in rheumatoid arthritis patients: A cohort study

“…This finding corroborates with Gong et al (2019) [ 31 ] where the authors found a modest negative linear correlation between Sharp and HAQ scores and longer disease duration (p< 0.001) in Chinese RA patients. In addition, in the REAL—Rheumatoid Arthritis in Real Life in Brazil [ 32 ], the authors demonstrated that the patients with erosion showed an HAQ-DI value higher than those without erosion. Therefore, from our findings, low muscle strength, worse physical performance and the presence of bone erosion seem to influence the HAQ score in patients with RA.…”

Time trends in the burden of autoimmune diseases across the BRICS: an age–period–cohort analysis for the GBD 2019

“… 45 In Brazil, there are socioeconomic disparities in the incidence of RA, which are related to environmental factors, lifestyle and disease development risks. 46 A meta-analysis revealed that the overall prevalence of RA in South Africa is 2.5%. 47 The prevalence of RA in South Africa is significantly higher than that in other BRICS countries.…”