Quality Assessment in Clinical Management of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Are We Using the "Treat to Target" Strategy?

Jose Luis Andreu^1,2, Maria Auxiliadora Martin³, H Corominas⁴, Jose Javier Perez Venegas⁵, Jose Andres Roman Ivorra^6,7, Angel Gil⁸, Fernando Sánchez-Alonso⁹, Tamara Jiménez¹⁰ and Miguel Angel Sánchez-Ruiz¹⁰, ¹Rheumatology, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Majadahonda, Spain, ²Rheumatology, HU Puerta de Hierro Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain, ³Research Unit of Spanish Society of Rheumatology,, Madrid, Spain, ⁴CapiCAT group (Nailfold Capillaroscopy group from the Catalan Society for Rheumatology)., Catalonia, Spain, ⁵Rheumatology, Hospital de Jerez de la Frontera, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, ⁶Rheumatology, H.U. P. La Fe, Valencia, Spain, ⁷Servicio de Reumatología, Servicio de Reumatología Hospital Universitario La Fe, Valencia, Spain, ⁸Cátedra de Resultados en Salud, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain, ⁹Unidad de Investigación. Sociedad Española de Reumatología, Madrid, Spain, ¹⁰Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain

Meeting: 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Date of first publication: September 29, 2015

Keywords: Benchmarking tools, Best practices, management, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and treatment guidlelines

Session Information

Date: Sunday, November 8, 2015

Title: Rheumatoid Arthritis - Clinical Aspects Poster I

Session Type: ACR Poster Session A

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose:

The current paradigm of optimal clinical management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) recommends reaching a state of remission or low activity of the disease, assessed by composite indexes of activity, by means of a tight control and a dynamic adjustment of available therapeutic options, using a “treat to target” strategy. The aim of this work is to assess the level of implementation of the “treat to target” strategy and other parameters of medical quality in clinical records (CRs) of RA patients in Spanish rheumatology departments.

Methods:

Adult RA patients fulfilling 2010 ACR-EULAR criteria for RA and diagnosed between January 1st, 2010 and December 31st, 2013 in Spanish rheumatology departments were included. From every centre, 19 patients were randomly chosen from a computerized anonymized list provided by every department. Independent auditors assessed the CRs, verifying the fulfilling of the quality criteria included in an assessment tool specifically developed for this project. The study was approved by the ethic committees of every participant hospital. Descriptive statistics were used for the presentation of the results.

Results:

A total of 254 CRs from 14 rheumatology departments were included. An explicit assessment of the disease activity as a determinant element considered to choose the therapy was recorded in 32% of the CRs. An optimal escalation of methotrexate dose was registered in 77% of the cases. Use of a composite disease activity score (DAS28, SDAI, CDAI) was reported in 88% of the cases. Disease activity monitoring every 6-8 months after reaching the therapeutic target was recorded in 57% of the cases. In 96 % of the cases, the clinicians had registered patient´s comorbidities and these associated conditions had been considered in planning the therapeutic approach and objective. In only 3.8 % of the CRs, visits every 4 weeks using a composite activity score had been reported during the early stage while trying to reach remission after diagnosis. Starting a DMARD in the first two weeks after diagnosis was recorded in only 30 % of the cases.

Conclusion:

Currently, the implementation of the “treat to target” strategy is scarcely registered in clinical records of patients diagnosed with RA in Spanish rheumatology departments.

Disclosure: J. L. Andreu, None; M. A. Martin, None; H. Corominas, None; J. J. Perez Venegas, None; J. A. Roman Ivorra, None; A. Gil, None; F. Sánchez-Alonso, None; T. Jiménez, None; M. A. Sánchez-Ruiz, None.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Andreu JL, Martin MA, Corominas H, Perez Venegas JJ, Roman Ivorra JA, Gil A, Sánchez-Alonso F, Jiménez T, Sánchez-Ruiz MA. Quality Assessment in Clinical Management of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. Are We Using the “Treat to Target” Strategy? [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015; 67 (suppl 10). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/quality-assessment-in-clinical-management-of-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-are-we-using-the-treat-to-target-strategy/. Accessed .

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