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Intensive monthly outpatient treatments with antirheumatic drugs and steroid injections can substantially improve patients’ symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, according to a study reported in the July 17 issue of the Lancet.
Duncan Porter, MD, of Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland, and his colleagues divided 111 people with rheumatoid arthritis into two groups that either received intensive management or routine care.
The researchers found that 82% of patients given intensive therapy achieved a good response to treatment compared with 44% in the routine care group.
Furthermore, 65% of patients in the intensive group were in remission at the end of the study compared with only 16% of patients in the standard group. Intensive treatment was no more costly than standard treatment.
“The results of this study have considerable implications for the management of people with rheumatoid arthritis,” says Porter. “Despite initial concerns, cost did not differ between intensive management of patients and routine treatment.”
Porter says it remains to be seen whether the improvement in patients’ outcomes will translate into longer-term savings, such as a reduction in work disability, joint replacement surgery and institutional care.
Source: Medical Week Staff, week of July 19, 2004
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