Rheumatoid Arthritis Tied to Heavy Economic and Human Burdens

THURSDAY, Oct. 3, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with higher health care expenditures and suboptimal quality of life in U.S. adults, according to a study published online Aug. 6 in ACR Open Rheumatology.

Yinan Huang, Ph.D., from the University of Mississippi in Oxford, and colleagues estimated the economic and humanistic burden of RA among U.S. adults using self-reported data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2018 to 2020).

The researchers found significantly higher total annual health care expenditures in the RA group versus the non-RA group (mean, $3,382.971). The RA group also had lower Short Form 12 Health Survey physical component summary scores (mean, 4.78) and lower mental component summary scores (mean, −0.84). Compared with the non-RA group, the RA group also had increased odds of requesting assistance with activities of daily living (adjusted odds ratio, 2.02) and instrumental activities of daily living (adjusted odds ratio, 2.11).

"RA was associated with higher health care expenditures, particularly prescription medication costs, and was associated with suboptimal quality of life," the authors write. "Prescribers should evaluate the health-related quality-of-life impact in prescribing treatment to adults with RA. Managed care professionals and payers should be aware of the high expenditures of RA due to high-cost prescription medications."

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