{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.06572237960339944, 'fraction_numerical': 0.04929178470254957, 'mean_word_length': 4.660256410256411, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 1, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 1, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Are women with rheumatoid arthritis treated with biologicals adherent to treatment

Introduction. The Italian 5-item Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (I-CQR5) identifies ‘high’ adherers (HAs) to treatment (i.e. taking ≥80% of their medications correctly), and ‘low’ adherers (LAs). The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with adherence in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients treated with biologicals (bDMARDs). We conducted separate analyses in females and males. Methods. RA patients (with disease duration >1 year, undergoing treatment with ≥1 self-administered bDMARD, willing and capable of completing the questionnaire unaided) were enrolled. I-CQR5s were anonymous. Demographic and clinical variables achieving a p <0.10 in univariate analysis were included in multivariate analysis. Results. A total of 191 patients (142 females) were included in the study. HAs were 41.4% of patients, 36.6% of females and 55.1% of males. Compared to men, women more often had a positive rheumatoid factor and/or anti-citrullinated peptides, more often had fibromyalgia and less likely to be employed. An independent association was found between HAs and employment: OR 2.81 (95% CI 1.29;6.05), p = 0.009. A genderdependent trend in treatment adherence was observed: the OR of being HAs for female gender was 0.47 (95% CI 0.21;1.04), p = 0.064. Factors associated with HAs were, among females, employment (OR 2.71, 95% CI 1.17;6.27, p = 0.020) and, among males, patients’ perception of the disease (OR 0.73, 95% CI 0.54;0.98, p = 0.038, per 10-unit worsening). Conclusions. Adherence to biological drugs in RA is suboptimal. Employment is a predictor of HAs to treatment. Inadequate control of pain might be responsible for poor adherence in women.