TY - JOUR
T1 - Obstacles to the implementation of the treat-to-target strategy for rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice in Japan
AU - Kaneko, Yuko
AU - Koike, Takao
AU - Oda, Hiromi
AU - Yamamoto, Kazuhiko
AU - Miyasaka, Nobuyuki
AU - Harigai, Masayoshi
AU - Yamanaka, Hisashi
AU - Ishiguro, Naoki
AU - Tanaka, Yoshiya
AU - Takeuchi, Tsutomu
N1 - Funding Information:
This survey was conducted under a financial support from AbbVie (formerly Abbott Japan) and Eisai.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 Japan College of Rheumatology.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Objective. To clarify the obstacles preventing the implementation of the treat-to-target (T2T) strategy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinical practice. Methods. A total of 301 rheumatologists in Japan completed a questionnaire. In the fi rst section, participants were indirectly questioned on the implementation of basic components of T2T, and in the second section, participants were directly questioned on their level of agreement and application. Results. Although nearly all participants set treatment targets for the majority of RA patients with moderate to high disease activity, the proportion who set clinical remission as their target was 59%, with only 45% of these using composite measures. The proportion of participants who monitored X-rays and Health Assessment Questionnaires for all their patients was 44% and 14%, respectively. The proportion of participants who did not discuss treatment strategies was 44%, with approximately half of these reasoning that this was due to a proportion of patients having a lack of understanding of the treatment strategy or inability to make decisions. When participants were directly questioned, there was a high level of agreement with the T2T recommendations. Conclusion. Although there was a high level of agreement with the T2T recommendations, major obstacles preventing its full implementation still remain.
AB - Objective. To clarify the obstacles preventing the implementation of the treat-to-target (T2T) strategy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinical practice. Methods. A total of 301 rheumatologists in Japan completed a questionnaire. In the fi rst section, participants were indirectly questioned on the implementation of basic components of T2T, and in the second section, participants were directly questioned on their level of agreement and application. Results. Although nearly all participants set treatment targets for the majority of RA patients with moderate to high disease activity, the proportion who set clinical remission as their target was 59%, with only 45% of these using composite measures. The proportion of participants who monitored X-rays and Health Assessment Questionnaires for all their patients was 44% and 14%, respectively. The proportion of participants who did not discuss treatment strategies was 44%, with approximately half of these reasoning that this was due to a proportion of patients having a lack of understanding of the treatment strategy or inability to make decisions. When participants were directly questioned, there was a high level of agreement with the T2T recommendations. Conclusion. Although there was a high level of agreement with the T2T recommendations, major obstacles preventing its full implementation still remain.
KW - Implementation
KW - Obstacle
KW - Rheumatoid arthritis
KW - Treat-to-target
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U2 - 10.3109/14397595.2014.926607
DO - 10.3109/14397595.2014.926607
M3 - Article
C2 - 24950169
AN - SCOPUS:84983457256
SN - 1439-7595
VL - 25
SP - 43
EP - 49
JO - Japanese Journal of Rheumatology
JF - Japanese Journal of Rheumatology
IS - 1
ER -