Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate disease activity and explore the factors associated with poor disease control among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This cross-sectional study was conducted at outpatient rheumatology clinics in two teaching hospitals in Jordan. Medication adherence was assessed using the validated five-item compliance questionnaire for rheumatology, and disease activity was assessed using the clinical disease activity Index score. Ordinal regression was performed to explore the factors associated with uncontrolled RA. Most of the participants (n=261) demonstrated moderate to high disease activity (71.2%). Seronegative RA (B=-0.882, CI [-1.584/-0.180], p<0.05) was significantly associated with lower disease activity, while medication non-adherence was significantly associated with poor RA control (B=1.023, CI [0.289-1.756], p<0.01). Future research should explore the factors associated with medication non-adherence. These factors should be targeted in future interventions to improve RA control, particularly in patients who suffer from high disease severity.
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Article Type: Original Article
ELECTRON J GEN MED, Volume 20, Issue 6, December 2023, Article No: em532
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejgm/13521
Publication date: 01 Nov 2023
Online publication date: 01 Aug 2023
Article Views: 2033
Article Downloads: 1073
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