Happy share that our cross-sectional study “Patients’ disease burden, satisfaction, and use of technology in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Greece” was presented last week, at the PanHellenic Conference on Health Economics & Policies 2023.

The study was carried out by Health Through Evidence (HTE) in collaboration with the Greek patient associations EL.E.AN.A and Reumazin between  August – September of 2023.  Preliminary study results show that:

• 54% of participants reported that the first physician they visited when they first experienced symptoms was an orthopedist.
• 83% of the participants reported that RA has an important/very important effect in their daily life, whereas the 40% of them mentioned none or little/moderate satisfaction by their current treatment.
• 59% of participants reported that their disease substantially affects all activities of daily living (e.g., sleep, work, physical activity, social life).
• Pain was found to be the main determinant of patients’ functioning.
• The vast majority of participants reported that “remission” is one of the goals that patient and physician have agreed upon, with the absence of pain (89%) being most often reported for definition of remission.
• The achievement of remission was positively correlated with patients’ satisfaction with their course of disease (p≤0,05), whereas patients who made a joint decision with physicians about their treatment considered that they have achieved remission (p=0,02).
• 9 out of 10 participants reported that a digital-tool would help them to prepare adequately for their physician’s appointment and that a mobile-or-smartwatch app recording their health status would be useful.
• 83% of the participants reported that they prepare themselves before a physician’s visit, with main focus on discussing the number and duration of their disease symptoms and psychology fluctuations.

Many thanks to all the authors for their guidance and efforts in shaping our study accomplishments. Moreover, our deepest gratitude to the patient associations (EL.E.AN.A, & Reumazin) and to invisible and visible supporters with whose assistance we were able to carry out the current study.

Find out more at:PanHellenic Conference website.