(A-057) A Course of Medication in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Their Comorbidities in Japan: a Descriptive Analysis Using Japanese Claims Data

Background: Early detection and initiation of treatment are important routes to achieve remission by Treat to Target (T2T) for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, because the treatment course is expected to be long-term, awareness and care for comorbidities are also important in treatment choices.

Objectives: To describe the RA treatment course and comorbidities using real-world data in Japan.

Methods: A descriptive analysis was done by using IQVIA Claims plus 2 data, a Japanese claims database. The patient background at the initiation of RA treatment and the comorbidities after the initiation were described. Patients suffering from RA, aged16 years or older, were obtained from the claims data of April 2014 to March 2024. Sex, age at the initiation of RA treatment (biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs), conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (csDMARDs), and targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs)) and comorbidities after the initiation were described.

Results: 131,136 patients, male 34,503 (26.3%) and female 96,633 (73.7%), suffering from RA were extracted. The average age at the initiation of the therapy for males and females was 69.4±12.7 (average±s.d.) and 68.9±13.6 (average±s.d.), respectively. The therapy starting with medication of bDMARDs, csDMARDs or tsDMARDs was 23,477 (17.9%), 97,331(74.2%), and 1,392 (1.1%), respectively. 8,936人(6.8%) patients were started with combination of the medications. Among the comorbidities after the initiation of RA treatment, other than the primary disease-derived, diseases of esophagus, stomach and duodenum, upper respiratory infections, eye and adnexa were common and high frequent in all DMARDs initiated treatment, but nutritional deficiencies were high frequency only in csDMARDs initiated treatment.

Conclusions: In the treatment of RA, as well as the treatment choice, it is necessary to pay attention to diseases of upper digestive tract, respiratory infections, eye and adnexa as subsequent comorbidities.