Rheumatology Advance Access published online on June 27, 2003
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keg355
Rheumatology © British Society for Rheumatology 2003; all rights reserved
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Original Papers
1 Department of Rheumatology, Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, UK
* Corresponding author. E-mail: elaine.morrison{at}SGH.scot.nhs.uk.
Received 29 August 2002
; accepted 3 March 2003
Objective. To assess the attitudes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to oral corticosteroid treatment, factors influencing these views and their likely clinical impact. Methods. A cross-sectional survey of 158 consecutive RA out-patients was carried out at two centres over 2 weeks. Demography, disease duration, function [Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ)], erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), years of formal education and social deprivation index were noted. Prospective recruitment into the multicentre West of Scotland Early Rheumatoid Arthritis Corticosteroid Trial (WOSERACT) was monitored and reasons for refusal to participate (when available) were noted at three of the centres. Results. Forty-eight (32%) patients were willing to be treated with oral corticosteroid and 100 (68%) were not. The former were older (P = 0.002), had a higher ESR (P = 0.007), poorer function (P = 0.001) and greater previous exposure to disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (P = 0.013). Ninety patients refused to participate in WOSERACT, in 46 cases (40 female, 6 male) the reason being concerns about corticosteroids. Conclusions. This study shows a high level of concern about and refusal of corticosteroid treatment in RA, due mainly to patient concerns about adverse effects. Rheumatologists need to be aware of these attitudes as they are likely to affect prescribing.
Key words: Rheumatoid arthritis, Corticosteroid treatment, Patient attitudes, Corticosteroid side-effects, Study recruitment.
Attitude of rheumatoid arthritis patients to treatment with oral corticosteroids
2 Centre for Rheumatic Disease, Royal Infirmary, Glasgow, UK
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  L. Fardet, J. Cabane, A. Kettaneh, C. Lebbe, and A. Flahault Corticosteroid-induced lipodystrophy is associated with features of the metabolic syndrome Rheumatology, July 1, 2007; 46(7): 1102 - 1106. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Morrison and H. A. Capell Corticosteroids in the management of early and established rheumatoid disease Rheumatology, September 1, 2006; 45(9): 1058 - 1061. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
R. Neame and A. Hammond Beliefs about medications: a questionnaire survey of people with rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatology, June 1, 2005; 44(6): 762 - 767. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|