Rheumatoid Arthritis is the Leading Cause of Work Disability in Europe
PARIS, June 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- New data announced today showedthat treating patients with early, active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) withAbbott's HUMIRA(R) (adalimumab) and methotrexate (MTX) resulted in an indirectcost savings of euro 4,845 (or approximately USD$6,086 using exchange rates atthe time of the study) per patient per year compared to MTX treatment alone.These cost savings were attributed to improved work performance, ability togain or regain employment and a reduction in the number of missed workdays. Aseparate analysis found that joint damage in the early stages of RA is apredictor of a patient's ability to gain or retain employment. These datawere presented at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) annualmeeting in Paris.
'While rheumatoid arthritis is a progressive and chronic disease, patientsmay be able to continue productive work lives with the help of treatmentoptions such as adalimumab,' said Ronald F. van Vollenhoven, M.D., Ph.D.,Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
More than five million people worldwide have RA, and most of them areconsidered to be in the prime of their working lives (between 30-50 years ofage). The data are from DE032, an economic companion study to PREMIER, atwo-year, randomized, double-blind, comparator-controlled study that comparedthe effectiveness of HUMIRA and MTX to MTX alone in treating early RA. Atbaseline, a total of 433 patients with early, active RA were identified,including 235 active, paid workers. Patients were evaluated on threemeasures: number of missed days of work due to RA, degree of work performanceaffected by RA and employment status.
The study found that:
-- For paid and household workers, estimated indirect cost savings in patients with early RA treated with HUMIRA plus MTX (compared to MTX alone) were euro 4,845 (or approximately USD$6,086) per patient per year. -- Among paid workers only, indirect cost savings in patients treated with HUMIRA plus MTX were attributed as follows: o 79 percent to improved work performance; o 12 percent to the patient's improved ability to gain or retain employment; o 9 percent to the reduced number of missed workdays.
In a separate analysis of the same study, researchers identified that inpatients with early RA treated with HUMIRA plus MTX, baseline joint damage(assessed by joint space narrowing, joint space erosion and total sharp score,or TSS) is an independent predictor of a patient's ability to maintain or gainemployment. TSS is a measure of joint damage progression. A smaller change inTSS reflects less progression of joint damage, with a positive scoreindicating worse radiographic damage. A total of 664 patients were included inthis analysis, with average disease duration of eight months. Key findingsincluded:
-- The likelihood of failing to gain or retain employment was significantly associated with baseline joint damage (extent of joint erosion and joint space narrowing), as measured by TSS at baseline (p<0.0001), as well as poor scores on other measures evaluating physical and mental well-being. -- The number of missed work days and degree of work performance were not associated with baseline joint damage. -- Missing work due to early RA was significantly associated with scores on the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), which evaluates the level of pain and disability caused by RA (p<0.0001). Therefore, those with better HAQ scores tended to miss less work. -- Performance at work was also significantly associated with HAQ scores (p<0.0001) in addition to other measures evaluating disease activity and physical and mental well-being.
