European Journal of Rheumatology
Original Article

Treat-to-target concept implementation for evaluating rheumatoid arthritis patients in daily practice

1.

Department of Rheumatology, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

2.

Department of Rheumatology, Rabin Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel

3.

Department of Rheumatology, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel

4.

Rheumatology Unit, Zabludowicz Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

5.

B. Shine Rheumatology Unit, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel

6.

Department of Rheumatology, Bnai Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

7.

Department of Internal Medicine, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

8.

Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, Israel

9.

Department of Rheumatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel

Eur J Rheumatol 2019; 6: 136-141
DOI: 10.5152/eurjrheum.2019.18195
Read: 2922 Downloads: 1355 Published: 03 September 2019

Abstract

 

Objective: We aimed to assess the implementation of the treat-to-target (T2T) concept in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in daily practice.

 

Methods: All RA patients visiting one of the 7 academic medical centers in Israel in June 2015 with at least 3 previous clinic visits were included in this study. A common questionnaire was used to collect data from patients’ medical records, and two independent rheumatologists evaluated the collected data for the implementation of the T2T concept. The associations between T2T implementation and the categorical and continuous variables were assessed.

 

Results: The study included 724 patients with a mean (standard deviation) age of 62.6 (13.97) years and 575 (80.4%) of them were women. Four centers used more than one scoring method, with Disease Activity Score-28 and Clinical Disease Activity Index) being most commonly used. Only 276 (38.1%) patients had disease score results in ≥3 visits, and the T2T recommendations were implemented for 245 (33.8%) of the 724 patients. The rate of implementation was higher in younger (p=0.028) rheumatoid factor-positive patients (p=0.011) and varied between centers (11.1%-87% p<0.0001). T2T implementation did not correlate to gender, place of residence, education, tobacco use, treatment regimens, and presence of erosions or comorbidities.

 

Conclusion: The T2T concept was implemented on only 33.8% of patients and was not affected by RA disease severity. Further studies are needed to determine the reasons for this deviation from the T2T standard of care for RA as well as its consequences.

 

Cite this article as: Gazitt T, Oren S, Reitblat T, Lidar M, Balbir Gurman A, Rosner I, et al. Treat-to-target concept implementation for evaluating rheumatoid arthritis patients in daily practice. Eur J Rheumatol 2019; 6(3): 136-41.

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