OBJECTIVES:

Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) are required to take long-term treatments to manage their chronic disease. However lack of adherence is very common and represents major barriers to treatment efficiency. Measuring patient acceptance of their medication help understand and predict patients' medication-taking behavior. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the level of acceptance to medication in RA patients in real life; to identify issues and to define priorities for action.

METHODS: Observational, cross-sectional study conducted in Europe using Carenity Online Community. Adult RA patients were invited to complete an online questionnaire including a validated patient reported outcome measure: the 25-item ACCEptance by the Patients of their Treatment (ACCEPT©). It includes one general acceptance dimension (Acceptance/General) and five multi-item treatment-attribute specific dimensions: Acceptance/Medication Inconvenience, Acceptance/Long-term Treatment, Acceptance/Regimen Constraints, Acceptance/Side Effects, Acceptance/Effectiveness, scored from 0-100 (lowest to highest acceptance). Patients were categorized according to their main treatment class: Immunosuppressant versus Other RA treatments.

RESULTS: CONCLUSIONS: Treatment acceptance is not satisfactory in RA patients. Their treatment acceptance is primarily driven by perceived effectiveness. Experiencing side effects and needing a long-term treatment in the future are their major concerns. These findings give indications about RA patients’ priorities and unmet needs.