TY - JOUR
T1 - The association of fatigue, comorbidity burden, disease activity, disability and gross domestic product in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Results from 34 countries participating in the Quest-RA program
AU - Grøn, Kathrine Lederballe
AU - Ørnbjerg, Lykke Midtbøll
AU - Hetland, Merete Lund
AU - Aslam, Fawad
AU - Khan, Nasim A
AU - Jacobs, Johannes W G
AU - Henrohn, Dan
AU - Rasker, J J
AU - Kauppi, Markku J
AU - Lang, Hui-Chu
AU - Mota, Licia M H
AU - Aggarwal, Amita
AU - Yamanaka, Hisahi
AU - Badsha, Humeira
AU - Gossec, Laure
AU - Cutolo, Maurizio
AU - Ferraccioli, Gianfranco
AU - Gremese, Elisa
AU - Bong Lee, Eun
AU - Inanc, Nevsun
AU - Direskeneli, Haner
AU - Taylor, Peter
AU - Huisman, Margriet
AU - Alten, Rieke
AU - Pohl, Christoph
AU - Oyoo, Omondi
AU - Stropuviene, Sigita
AU - Drosos, Alexandrosos A
AU - Kerzberg, Eduardo
AU - Ancuta, Codorina
AU - Mofti, Ayman
AU - Bergman, Martin
AU - Detert, Jaqueline
AU - Selim, Zaraa I
AU - Abda, Essam A
AU - Rexhepi, Blerta
AU - Sokka, Tuulikki
PY - 2014/10/21
Y1 - 2014/10/21
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The aim is to assess the prevalence of comorbidities and to further analyse to which degree fatigue can be explained by comorbidity burden, disease activity, disability and gross domestic product (GDP) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).METHODS: Nine thousands eight hundred seventy-four patients from 34 countries, 16 with high GDP (>24.000 US dollars [USD] per capita) and 18 low-GDP countries (<24.000 USD) participated in the Quantitative Standard monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) study. The prevalence of 31 comorbid conditions, fatigue (0-10 cm visual analogue scale [VAS] [10=worst]), disease activity in 28 joints (DAS28), and physical disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire score [HAQ]) were assessed. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between fatigue and comorbidities, disease activity, disability and GDP.RESULTS: Overall, patients reported a median of 2 comorbid conditions of which hypertension (31.5%), osteoporosis (17.6%), osteoarthritis (15.5%) and hyperlipidaemia (14.2%) were the most prevalent. The majority of comorbidities were more common in high-GDP countries. The median fatigue score was 4.4 (4.8 in low-GDP countries and 3.8 in high-GDP countries, p<0.001). In low-GDP countries 25.4% of the patients had a high level of fatigue (>6.6) compared with 23.0% in high-GDP countries (p<0.001). In univariate analysis, fatigue increased with increasing number of comorbidities, disease activity and disability in both high- and low-GDP countries. In multivariate analysis of all countries, these 3 variables explained 29.4% of the variability, whereas GDP was not significant.CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is a widespread problem associated with high comorbidity burden, disease activity and disability regardless of GDP.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The aim is to assess the prevalence of comorbidities and to further analyse to which degree fatigue can be explained by comorbidity burden, disease activity, disability and gross domestic product (GDP) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).METHODS: Nine thousands eight hundred seventy-four patients from 34 countries, 16 with high GDP (>24.000 US dollars [USD] per capita) and 18 low-GDP countries (<24.000 USD) participated in the Quantitative Standard monitoring of Patients with RA (QUEST-RA) study. The prevalence of 31 comorbid conditions, fatigue (0-10 cm visual analogue scale [VAS] [10=worst]), disease activity in 28 joints (DAS28), and physical disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire score [HAQ]) were assessed. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between fatigue and comorbidities, disease activity, disability and GDP.RESULTS: Overall, patients reported a median of 2 comorbid conditions of which hypertension (31.5%), osteoporosis (17.6%), osteoarthritis (15.5%) and hyperlipidaemia (14.2%) were the most prevalent. The majority of comorbidities were more common in high-GDP countries. The median fatigue score was 4.4 (4.8 in low-GDP countries and 3.8 in high-GDP countries, p<0.001). In low-GDP countries 25.4% of the patients had a high level of fatigue (>6.6) compared with 23.0% in high-GDP countries (p<0.001). In univariate analysis, fatigue increased with increasing number of comorbidities, disease activity and disability in both high- and low-GDP countries. In multivariate analysis of all countries, these 3 variables explained 29.4% of the variability, whereas GDP was not significant.CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is a widespread problem associated with high comorbidity burden, disease activity and disability regardless of GDP.
KW - Arthritis, Rheumatoid
KW - Chi-Square Distribution
KW - Comorbidity
KW - Cost of Illness
KW - Disability Evaluation
KW - Fatigue
KW - Female
KW - Gross Domestic Product
KW - Humans
KW - Linear Models
KW - Male
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Multivariate Analysis
KW - Predictive Value of Tests
KW - Prevalence
KW - Questionnaires
KW - Risk Factors
KW - Severity of Illness Index
KW - Socioeconomic Factors
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25327997
SN - 0392-856X
VL - 32
SP - 869
EP - 877
JO - Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology
JF - Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology
IS - 6
ER -