Journal List > J Rheum Dis > v.25(2) > 1094820

Bae, Cha, Choe, Choi, Cho, Chung, Joung, Jung, Kang, Kim, Kim, Kim, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Lee, Nah, Shim, Song, Suh, Won, Yoo, and Yoon: Productivity Loss of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients according to the Their Stages of the Disease Activity Score

Abstract

Objective

Productivity loss was compared by 3-stage of disease activity and associations between higher disease activity and high productivity loss were identified.

Methods

Data were extracted from Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Patient-reported Outcomes Research, which enrolled 2,000 RA patients (>20-year) on disease-modifying-antirheumatic-drugs (DMARDs) (≥6-month) from December 2012 to June 2013. This included 1,457 RA patients with the disease activity score (DAS-28-ESR) in their medical charts. Productivity loss in time and indirect cost was estimated using The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). Baseline characteristics and productivity loss outcomes were compared according to DAS-28-ESR groups.

Results

84.4% were females, 54.2% had low DAS-28-ESR (<3.2), and 38.2% and 7.6% had moderate (3.2∼5.1) and high DAS-28-ESR (>5.1). Patients with moderate to high DAS-28-ESR had higher lost productivity time (LPT) and monthly costs of LPT than those with low DAS-28-ESR (time in hours: 110.0±58.4 vs. 132.4±57.2 vs. 71.5±52.0, p<0.0001; monthly costs of LPT in 1,000 Korean won: 1,097±607 vs. 1,302±554 vs. 741±531, p<0.0001). Multiple regression analyses revealed significant associations with high LPT in high (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=3.87, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.18∼6.87) and moderate DAS-28-ESR (adjusted OR=1.88, 95% CI: 1.41∼2.52) compared to low DAS-28-ESR. In addition, positive associations with high monthly costs of LPT were observed in high (adjusted OR=3.45, 95% CI: 1.98∼5.99) and moderate DAS-28-ESR (adjusted OR=1.93, 95% CI: 1.43∼2.54) compared to low DAS-28-ESR.

Conclusion

Timely therapeutic strategies should be taken into consideration given that the RA patients with moderate to high DAS-28-ESR showed strong associations with high productivity loss for effective management of RA.

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Figure 1.
Lost productivity time in hours by DAS-28-ESR in the past one month. DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-ery-throcyte sedimentation rate. *p-value by analysis of variance.
jrd-25-122f1.tif
Figure 2.
Productivity loss in indirect cost by DAS-28-ESR per month. DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate. *p-value by analysis of variance.
jrd-25-122f2.tif
Table 1.
Patient characteristics by disease activity score (DAS-28-ESR)
Variable Total (n=1,457) DAS-28-ESR <3.2(n=790, 54.2%) DAS-28-ESR 3.2∼5.1(n=557, 38.2%) DAS-28-ESR >5.1(n=110, 7.6%) p-value*
Gender         0.0003
Male 227 (15.6) 151 (19.1) 62 (11.1) 14 (12.7)  
Female 1,230 (84.4) 639 (80.9) 495 (88.9) 96 (87.3)  
Age (yr)         0.0092
N 1,457 790 557 110  
Mean±SD 55.7±11.9 54.8±11.7 56.7±11.9 56.7±12.5  
Median 55.0 55.0 57.0 57.0  
Min, max 20, 87 20, 87 25, 86 20, 80  
Duration of disease e (yr)       0.0003
N 1,358 746 516 96  
Mean±SD 8.4±7.1 7.8±6.8 9.2±7.5 9.9±7.5  
Median 6.4 5.5 7.5 8.3  
Min, max 0, 44 0.0, 44.4 0.3, 44.5 0.0, 30.7  
RF positivity         0.0479
Positive 1,124 (77.1) 591 (74.8) 440 (79.0) 93 (84.6)  
Negative 307 (21.1) 187 (23.7) 104 (18.7) 16 (14.6)  
Unknown 26 (1.8) 12 (1.5) 13 (2.3) 1 (0.9)  
Anti-CCP positivity         0.0636
Positive 1,016 (69.7) 545 (69.0) 393 (70.6) 78 (70.9)  
Negative 209 (14.3) 129 (16.3) 71 (12.7) 9 (8.2)  
Unknown 232 (15.9) 116 (14.7) 93 (16.7) 23 (20.9)  
CCI         0.3671
1∼2 1,311 (90.0) 720 (91.1) 493 (88.5) 98 (89.1)  
3∼4 126 (8.6) 62 (7.9) 55 (9.9) 9 (8.2)  
≥5 20 (1.4) 8 (1.0) 9 (1.6) 3 (2.7)  
Current steroid use         <0.0001
Yes 1,042 (71.5) 516 (65.3) 434 (77.9) 92 (83.6)  
No 415 (28.5) 274 (34.7) 123 (22.1) 18 (16.4)  
Current NSAID use Yes e 1,099 (75.4) 578 (73.2) 428 (76.8) 93 (84.6) 0.0211
No 358 (24.6) 212 (26.8) 129 (23.2) 17 (15.5)  
KHAQ score         <0.0001
Mean±SD 0.7±0.7 0.4±0.5 0.9±0.7 1.3±0.8  
Median 0.5 0.3 0.9 1.1  
Min, max 0, 3 0, 3 0, 3 0, 3  

Values are presented number (%) otherwise indicated. DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, SD: standard deviation, RF: rheumatoid factor, CCP: cyclic citrullinated peptide, CCI: Charlson comorbidity index, Connective tissue disease was considered for all rheumatoid arthritis patients, NSAID: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, HAQ: health assessment questionnaire.

* p-value by chi-square test or analysis of variance.

A post hoc analysis showed the significant difference between groups at p-value <0.05.

Table 2.
Productivity loss in rheumatoid arthritis over past four weeks
Variable Total (n=1,457) DAS-28-ESR <3.2(n=790, 54.2%) DAS-28-ESR 3.2∼5.1(n=557, 38.2%) DAS-28-ESR >5.1(n=110, 7.6%) p-value*
Absenteeism
Actual days worked if not sick due to RA (d) 0.4202
Mean±SD 26.0±3.8 25.9±3.7 26.1±3.8 25.7±4.7  
Median 28.0 28.0 28.0 28.0  
Min, max 5, 28 8, 28 5, 28 8, 28  
Entire work days missed due to RA (d) <0.0001
Mean±SD 1.7±5.0 0.7±3.2 2.5±5.9 4.3±7.7  
Median 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0  
Min, max 0, 28 0, 28 0, 28 0, 28  
Partial days missed due to RA (d) <0.0001
Mean±SD 3.0±6.5 1.7±4.8 4.3±7.4 6.4±8.7  
Median 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8  
Min, max 0, 28 0, 28 0, 28 0, 28  
Lost productivity time in hours <0.0001
Mean±SD 90.9±59.0 71.5±52.0 110.0±58.4 132.4±57.2  
Median 85.6 67.0 112.0 128.0  
Min, max 0, 224 0, 224 0, 224 0, 224  
Presenteeism
Performance of most workers in a similar job 0.0629
Mean±SD 7.8±1.9 7.9±1.8 7.7±1.9 7.5±2.0  
Median 8.0 8.0 8.0 8.0  
Min, max 0, 10 0, 10 0, 10 0, 10  
Overall performance <0.0001
Mean±SD 6.1±2.4 6.9±2.1 5.4±2.3 4.4±2.4  
Median 5.0 7.0 5.0 5.0  
Min, max 0, 10 0, 10 0, 10 0, 10  
Overall performance compared to others§ <0.0001
Mean±SD 4.7±1.6 4.3±1.5 5.1±1.5 5.6±1.5  
Median 4.0 4.0 5.0 6.0  
Min, max 1, 7 1, 7 1, 7 2, 7  
Monthly cost of lost productivity time (1,000 Korean won) <0.0001
Mean±SD 920±597 741±531 1,097±607 1,302±554  
Median 858 673 994 1,369  
Min, max 0, 3,626 0, 3,626 0, 3,506 0, 2,671  

DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, RA: rheumatoid arthritis, SD: standard deviation.

* p-value by analysis of variance.

A post hoc analysis showed the significant difference between groups at p<0.05.

Rating on a scale from 0 to 10 (worst to top performance).

§ Rating on a scale from 1 to 7 (a lot better to a lot worse).

Table 3.
Univariate and multivariate analysis of factors associated with high lost productivity time (≥100 hours)
Variable Unadjusted OR (n=1,457) 95% CI Adjusted OR (n=1,159) 95% CI
DAS-28-ESR
3.2∼5.1 (ref. <3.2) 2.75 2.19∼3.45 1.88 1.41∼2.52
>5.1 (ref. <3.2) 6.05 3.90∼9.38 3.87 2.18∼6.87
Gender
Female (ref. male) 2.11 1.54∼2.89 1.85 1.21∼2.83
Age (yr) 1.04 1.03∼1.05 1.03 1.02∼1.04
Duration of disease (yr) 1.03 1.02∼1.05 0.99 0.97∼1.01
RF positivity
Positive (ref. negative) 1.04 0.81∼1.35 0.76 0.54∼1.08
Anti-CCP positivity
Positive (ref. negative) 0.99 0.73∼1.34 1.13 0.76∼1.68
CCI (1 point) 1.25 1.11∼1.41 1.13 0.97∼1.33
Current steroid use
Yes (ref. no) 1.63 1.29∼2.07 1.31 0.96∼1.79
Current NSAID use
Yes (ref. no) 1.10 0.86∼1.40 0.94 0.68∼1.29
HAQ score ≥1.0 (ref. <1.0) 7.65 5.94∼9.86 5.51 3.99∼7.59

OR: odds ratio, CI: confidence interval, DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, RF: rheumatoid factor, CCP: cyclic citrullinated peptide, CCI: Charlson comorbidity index, Connective tissue disease was considered for all rheumatoid arthritis patients, NSAID: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, HAQ: health assessment questionnaire.

Table 4.
Univariate and multivariate analysis of factors associated with high monthly cost of lost productivity time (≥1,000,000 Korean won)
Variable Unadjusted OR (n=1,457) 95% CI Adjusted OR (n=1,159) 95% CI
DAS-28-ESR
3.2∼5.1 (ref. <3.2) 2.48 1.98∼3.11 1.93 1.43∼2.54
>5.1 (ref. <3.2) 5.42 3.52∼8.32 3.45 1.98∼5.99
Gender
Female (ref. male) 0.97 0.73∼1.30 0.52 0.36∼0.76
Age (yr) 1.01 1.01∼1.02 0.99 0.98∼1.01
Duration of disease (yr) 1.02 1.00∼1.03 0.99 0.97∼1.01
RF positivity
Positive (ref. negative) 0.88 0.68∼1.13 0.66 0.47∼0.92
Anti-CCP positivity
Positive (ref. negative) 0.85 0.63∼1.16 1.02 0.70∼1.50
CCI (1 point) 1.16 1.03∼1.30 1.10 0.94∼1.28
Current steroid use
Yes (ref. no) 1.63 1.28∼2.08 1.18 0.87∼1.61
Current NSAID use
Yes (ref. no) 1.16 0.90∼1.48 0.92 0.67∼1.25
HAQ score ≥1.0 (ref. <1.0) 5.65 4.43∼7.21 6.07 4.39∼8.40

OR: odds ratio, CI: confidence interval, DAS-28-ESR: disease activity score-28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, RF: rheumatoid factor, CCP: cyclic citrullinated peptide, CCI: Charlson comorbidity index, Connective tissue disease was considered for all rheumatoid arthritis patients, NSAID: nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, HAQ: health assessment questionnaire.

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