https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2009.197

Socio-demographic aspects and therapeutic pathways in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Italy

Vol. 61 No. 3 (2009)
Abstract Views: 1134
PDF: 868
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

F. Salaffi
office@pagepress.org
C.M. Vaccaro
T. Manacorda
L. Pardini
C.M. Montecucco
The research carried out by Censis Foundation, in collaboration with SIR (Italian Society of Rheumatology) and ANMAR (National Association of Rheumatic patients), with the sponsorship of Roche S.p.A., involved more than 600 patients, diagnosed with arthritis by a rheumatologist according to ACR criteria. The patients were recruited through a representative sample of 300 general practitioners. A number of different research and survey tools were used to collect data, helping to identify several of the problems that affect Italian patients: a survey form to be filled by the GPs, in order to verify the diagnosis and the comorbidity level; a questionnaire for the self-assessment of the disease activity, Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index (RADAI), and a sociological questionnaire set up for the analysis of the main aspects of the patients’ path. Among the most serious criticalities found, the difficulties and the time needed for the patients to get a clear AR diagnosis, the problems in interacting with health structures, and the differences in accessing pharmaceutical therapies (only a slight majority of patients use DMARDs drugs, a small amount takes biological drugs, while a large number of patients is treated exclusively with symptomatic drugs) stand out. The differences in patients’ condition appear then to be exaggerated, regarding the chances to get an early diagnosis, the access path to specialised centres, and in receiving the most appropriate treatments. Moreover, these differences appear to be strongly dependent on both the social characteristics of the patients and the supply arrangement in their area.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Crossref
Scopus
Google Scholar
Europe PMC

How to Cite

Salaffi, F., Vaccaro, C., Manacorda, T., Pardini, L., & Montecucco, C. (2009). Socio-demographic aspects and therapeutic pathways in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Italy. Reumatismo, 61(3), 197–211. https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2009.197

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
  2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.