Awareness of Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients About Methotrexate Use

Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients' knowledge about methotrexate (MTX), the standard drug in the treatment of RA, through a questionnaire. In August-October 2017, patients who used MTX with a diagnosis of RA in a university hospital were asked to answer questionnaire about the mechanism of action of MTX, administration method, drug interaction, side effects, frequency of follow-up of patients and changes to the lifestyle that should be done. One hundred and sixty-two patients (144 women) were included in the study. The mean patient age was 52 (18-77) years, the mean disease duration was 10.3 (1-40) years, and the mean duration of MTX use was 7.1 (1-38) years. 50% of the patients correctly answered that MTX is an anti-inflammatory drug that regulates the disease. 85% of patients correctly responded to the weekly application frequency correctly.; 19% of the patients stated that the reason for using folic acid was to reduce the toxicity of the treatment and again only 11% knew that trimethoprim was contraindicated. 11% were aware of the hematological risks and 11% were aware of the risk of hypersensitivity pneumonia. 51% of them had knowledge about laboratory tests. 20% of women and men of childbearing age knew that they should use contraception while using MTX. 34% stated that alcohol consumption should be limited. Men and those with a high level of education gave a statistically higher rate of correct answers. (p=0.019, p=0.000) It was observed that the patients had insufficient knowledge about MTX, which is frequently used in RA patients in daily practice. There are shortcomings on important issues, especially serious side effects, drug interactions, and birth control. Patient information regarding MTX should be checked and supported regularly by using different training tools.

Keywords

• Awareness
• methotrexate
• rheumatoid arthritis

Romatoid Artrit Hastalarının Metotreksat Kullanımı ile İlgili Farkındalıkları

Abstract

Çalışmanın amacı, Romatoid artrit (RA) tedavisinde standart ilaç olan metotreksat (MTX) ile ilgili RA hastalarının bilgilerini bir anket aracılığıyla değerlendirmektir. Ağustos-Ekim 2017 tarihinde bir üniversite hastanesinde RA tanısı ile MTX kullanan hastalardan, MTX’in etki mekanizması, uygulama şekli, ilaç etkileşimi, yan etkileri, hastaların izlenme sıklığı ve yapılması gereken yaşam tarzı değişiklikleri ile ilgili soruları içeren anketi yanıtlamaları istendi. Yüz altmış iki hasta (144 kadın) çalışmaya dahil edildi. Ortalama hasta yaşı 52 (18-77), ortalama hastalık süresi 10.3 (1-40) yıl ve ortalama MTX kullanma süresi 7,1 (1-38) yıl idi. MTX’in hastalığı düzenleyen antiromatizmal bir ilaç olduğunu %50 hasta doğru yanıtladı. Uygulama sıklığının haftalık olduğunu %85; folik asid kullanma gerekçesinin, tedavi toksisitesini azaltmak olduğunu ise %19 hasta belirtti ve yine sadece %11’i trimetoprimin kontraendike olduğunu biliyordu. Hematolojik risklerden %11’i haberdardı ve %11’i aşırı duyarlılık pnömonisi riskinin farkındaydı. Laboratuvar testleri ile ilgili %51’inin bilgisi vardı. Doğurganlık çağında kadın ve erkeklerin MTX kullanırken kontrasepsiyon kullanması gerekliliğini bilenler %20 idi. %34’ü alkol tüketiminin sınırlı olması gerektiğini belirtti. Erkekler ve eğitim seviyesi yüksek olanlar istatistiksel olarak daha yüksek oranda doğru cevap verdi (p=0.019, p=0.000). Günlük pratikte RA hastalarında sıklıkla kullanılan MTX hakkında hastaların yetersiz bilgiye sahip olduğu görüldü. Özellikle ciddi yan etkiler, ilaç etkileşimleri ve doğum kontrolü gibi önemli konularda eksiklikler vardı. MTX’e ilişkin hasta bilgisi farklı eğitim araçlarını kullanarak düzenli olarak kontrol edilmeli ve desteklenmelidir.

Keywords

• Farkındalık
• metotreksat
• romatoid artrit

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