OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease which, when left untreated, may result in the destruction of multiple joints. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review on the humanistic and economic burden for RA in Colombia and Brazil.

METHODS: PubMed/Medline, Embase, Web of Science and grey literature databases (BASE, SciELO and PDF Search Engine) were searched for publications in English, Spanish or Portuguese on June 5^th 2018. Additionally, regional journals and professional and patient association web pages were consulted. The AMSTAR quality criteria were taken into account.

RESULTS: In total, 1700 records were retrieved and 17 records met the inclusion criteria. The Global Burden of Disease initiative 2015 estimated that the global prevalence of RA was 0.25%. In Colombia and Brazil these figures were higher, namely 0.48% and 0.38%. Compared to healthy subjects, RA patients had more physical and emotional wellbeing impairments. SF-36 role physical and role emotional scores for RA patients and healthy subjects were 30 vs 75 and 34 vs 74, respectively (0-100 scale; Senra et al., 2014). Patients with high disease activity reported lower bodily pain than patients with moderate or low disease activity (P≤0.01; Shiratori et al., 2014). In Brazil the annual direct costs per patient were approximately US$10,000 (Buendgens et al., 2013) and the estimated indirect costs US$2,423.51 (Cordeiro de Azevedo, Bosi Ferraz, and Mesquita Ciconelli, 2008). These numbers ncrease over time. The average direct monthly costs per patient in Colombia were US$650 in 2007, US$850 in 2008 and US$1,000 in 2009 (Montoya et al., 2011).

CONCLUSIONS: The burden of RA in Colombia and Brazil is large. However, evidence is still scarce and more studies are needed to evaluate the full humanistic and economic impact of RA in these countries.