Comparison of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Disease Remission in the European Union and United States

To compare patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) on disease remission in the European Union (EU) and United States (US) among those receiving a biologic treatment as part of usual care, a multi-country medical chart-review study was conducted in 2011 among patients recently treated with a biologic as part of usual care. Analysis included 1161 and 405 RA patients experiencing disease remission in the EU and US respectively, mean duration in remission was EU/US12.2mo/12.1mo. Among those with lab measures, Rheumatoid Factor and Anti-CCP results were similar, and so as the disease severity scores (e. g. , Swollen Joint Count, 100mm VAS score, HAQ and DAS28). CRP values, Tender Joint Count and Total Sharp Scores were higher among the EU cohort. RA patients in remission were found mostly similar between these geographic clusters, despite the potential variations in healthcare systems and modalities of care delivery, possibly attributed to EULAR/ACR efforts in standardizing the Treat-to-Target guidelines, with a focus on clinical remission.