Perceptions of patients with rheumatic diseases on the impact on daily life and satisfaction with their medications: RHEU-LIFE, a survey to patients treated with subcutaneous biological products

Figures & data

Figure 1 Perceived impact of rheumatic disease, by gender (A), disease duration (B), and source of care (C).

Note: Bottom numbers in bars represent the percentage of patients reporting that their rheumatic disease has a moderate-to-severe impact on different aspects of daily life.

Table 1 Perceived impact of the rheumatic disease on daily life domains and associated variables

(A) Percentage of patients responding to “how much do you consider your rheumatic disease impacts your…?”
	None	Mild	Moderate	Severe
Quality of life (n=569) (%)	15.6	32.5	32.2	19.7
Emotional well-being (n=571) (%)	19.3	39.8	26.6	14.4
Daily work or activities (n=565) (%)	16.3	34.5	28.0	21.2
Personal relationships (n=570) (%)	41.8	32.3	17.2	8.8
Family (close relatives) life (n=570) (%)	27.2	40.5	20.2	12.1

(B) Multivariable analysis of factors associated to perceived impact (“moderate/severe” versus “none/mild”) on different aspects of daily life
	OR (95% CI)	P-value
Quality of life
Age (per quartile increase)	1.30 (1.08–1.58)	0.006
Female gender (versus male)	1.62 (1.07–2.47)	0.024
PsA (versus RA)	1.76 (1.04–2.97)	0.034
Disease duration ≥10 years (versus <10 years)	1.72 (1.14–2.59)	0.009
Emotional well-being
Female gender (versus male)	1.74 (1.14–2.67)	0.024
PsA (versus RA)	1.66 (0.99–2.77)	0.055
Disease duration ≥10 years (versus <10 years)	1.87 (1.24–2.87)	0.003
Daily work or activities
Age (per quartile increase)	1.29 (1.07–1.56)	0.009
Female gender (versus male)	1.91 (1.25–2.90)	0.003
Axial SpA (versus RA)	1.61 (0.97–2.66)	0.066
Disease duration ≥10 years (versus <10 years)	1.53 (1.02–2.31)	0.041
Personal relationships
Female gender (versus male)	1.90 (1.61–3.11)	0.003
Axial SpA (versus RA)	1.74 (0.98–3.09)	0.060
PsA (versus RA)	1.73 (0.97–3.10)	0.065
Disease duration ≥10 years (versus <10 years)	1.93 (1.19–3.12)	0.008
Care from others (versus only self-care)	1.37 (1.08–1.74)	0.010
Family (close relatives) life
Age (per quartile increase)	1.20 (0.97–1.47)	0.092
Female gender (versus male)	2.01 (1.28–3.29)	0.003
Disease duration ≥10 years (versus <10 years)	2.01 (1.27–3.12)	0.003
Care from others (versus only self-care)	1.57 (1.25–1.98)	<0.001

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; OR, odds ratio; PsA, psoriatic arthritis; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SpA, spondyloarthritis.

Table 2 Rheumatologists’ behavior as perceived by patients

	Always/nearly always	Frequently	Only sometimes	Never/seldom ever
Inquires about my symptoms (n=539) (%)	77.2	18.6	3.3	0.9
Inquires about how my disease affects my quality of life (n=526) (%)	50.0	25.7	16.2	8.2
Inquires about how my disease affects my emotional well-being (n=519) (%)	37.4	24.3	17.5	20.8
Inquires about how my disease affects my daily work or activities (n=520) (%)	43.7	24.8	17.7	13.8
Inquires about how my disease affects my personal relationships (n=513) (%)	32.0	18.5	18.9	30.6

Note: Frequency with which rheumatologists inquire patients about different aspects of their lives during clinical visits.

Figure 2 Patients’ attribution of importance to each treatment feature.

Note: Results are expressed in percentage of respondents.
Abbreviation: QoL, quality of life.

Figure 3 Patients’ satisfaction with current antirheumatic therapy.

Notes: Bars represent the percentage of patients into each category for the different features. Note that, for space reasons, the categories “unsatisfied” and “very unsatisfied” have been combined in the figure.
Abbreviation: QoL, quality of life.

Figure 4 Patients’ satisfaction with current antirheumatic therapy, by the perception on impact on quality of life (moderate/severe versus none/mild).

Note: Bottom numbers in bars represent the percentage of patients reporting being satisfied or very satisfied with each treatment aspect.
Abbreviation: QoL, quality of life.