Analysis of hospital admissions of rheumatoid arthritis patients in the context of everyday clinical practice

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune connective tissue disease. Among all autoimmune diseases, rheumatoid arthritis is still recognised as having the most complicated pathogenesis. The importance of early diagnosis of RA and the prompt implementation of effective treatment that will lead to remission should be emphasised. The introduction of biological drugs for the treatment of arthritis at the end of the 20th century proved to be a „milestone  in rheumatology. These drugs have been targeted to stop or slow down the progression of the disease. However, not all treated patients will benefit from such treatment since a significant proportion of patients do not respond to the treatment. The study aimed to analyse in real-world clinical practice patients admitted to a typical rheumatological department. Patients were analysed in terms of biological treatment, age, admission procedure, gender, comorbidities, reduction in disability, as well as articular and extra-articular complications. Most of the hospitalised patients were women, married people and people living in the city. Most of the hospitalised patients are 61 to 80 years old. It is worth noting that biologically treated patients — 43 people, were hospitalised more than once a year. Usually, they received biological drugs on a scheduled basis, once a month. Studies show that patients included in the drug programme have fewer mobility limitations and fewer articular and extra-articular complications. They are between the ages of 41 and 60 and have a university degree.