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Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on March 29, 2008
Rheumatology 2008 47(5):690-697; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/ken050
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© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Beliefs about medicines in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus: a comparison between patients of South Asian and White British origin

K. Kumar1,2, C. Gordon1,2, V. Toescu1,2, C. D. Buckley1,2, R. Horne3, P. G. Nightingale4 and K. Raza1,2

1Rheumatology Research Group, Division of Immunity and Infection, The University of Birmingham, 2Department of Rheumatology, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, Birmingham, 3Centre for Behavioural Medicine, Department of Policy and Practice, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, London and 4Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, UK.

Correspondence to: K. Kumar, Department of Rheumatology, Division of Immunity and Infection, The Medical School, The University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. E-mail: k.kumar{at}bham.ac.uk


  Abstract

Objective. To assess whether patients with RA and SLE who are of South Asian origin have different beliefs about medicines in general, and about DMARDs in particular, compared with patients of White British/Irish origin.

Methods. One hundred patients of South Asian origin (50 RA; 50 SLE) and 100 patients of White British/Irish origin (50 RA; 50 SLE) were recruited. Demographic and disease-related details and responses to the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ), the SF-36 and the HAQ were collected.

Results. Patients of South Asian origin had significantly higher General Overuse (GO), General Harm (GH) and Specific Concern (SC) scores compared with patients of White British/Irish origin. Forward stepwise multivariable regression analysis showed that ethnic origin was an independent predictor of the GO, GH and SC scores with patients of South Asian origin having higher scores in these three scales of the BMQ.

Conclusion. RA and SLE patients of South Asian origin have very high levels of concern about DMARDs and are generally worried about prescribed medicines. This may have an impact on adherence in this group of patients and further work is needed to understand the reasons underlying these beliefs.

KEY WORDS: RA, SLE, Beliefs, Culture, Ethnicity, Quality of life, Physical health, Medication, DMARD, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire

Submitted 8 November 2007; revised version accepted 21 January 2008.
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