Rheumatoid Arthritis News

Weekly text message reminders have a positive impact on methotrexate adherence among adult patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings in Arthritis Care & Research.

More than 50% of adults aged 45 years or older with some form of arthritis are currently going untreated, despite a substantial proportion experiencing severe symptoms and poor physical function, according to data published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.

Researchers successfully used machine learning to detect flares among patients with rheumatoid arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis, and to determine a strong association between patient-reported flares and less physical activity, according to recent findings in Arthritis Care & Research.

The use of wearable devices that track movement is effective in significantly increasing the amount of and time spent performing moderate to vigorous physical activity, with high short-term adherence, among patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Implementing treat-to-target strategies for rheumatoid arthritis increases neither adverse events nor health care use, according to a post-hoc analysis published in Arthritis Care & Research.

When it comes to biologic therapy options, patients with rheumatoid arthritis are generally open to, and express high satisfaction with, IV treatments, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Despite an elevated infection risk, particularly for herpes zoster, baricitinib was generally well tolerated among patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis with exposure of up to 5.5 years, according to findings published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

The risk for cardiovascular disease associated with tocilizumab is comparable to that of etanercept, as well as several other biologics used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings published in Arthritis Care & Research.

Many patients with rheumatoid arthritis maintained remission or low disease activity after tapering their baricitinib dose from 4 mg to 2 mg, according to findings published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that affects approximately 1.3 million adults in the United States, can cause pain, disability and long-term joint damage. Depression, another debilitating and disruptive condition, was identified in 8.1% of Americans aged 20 years and older during a 2-week period between 2013 and 2016.