title: Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: recommendations assessment questionnaire in Korea.
abstract: Treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to target (T2T) is an international initiative to provide the rheumatology community with clear direction on treatment targets for RA. We performed a nationwide survey in Korea among rheumatologists to measure the levels of agreement with international T2T recommendations and to assess their practical application in Korea. A questionnaire was administered to 111 physicians. Responses were assessed using a 10-point Likert scale for the level of agreement with each of 10 recommendations and a 4-point Likert scale for the degree to which each recommendation was being applied in current daily practice. Respondents were also asked whether these recommendations would result in a change in their practice. This report outlines the consensus reached for T2T in Korea and compares those results with data obtained internationally. Agreement with T2T recommendations was high with average response scores above 8.3. The majority of respondents indicated they applied the recommendations "always" and "very often" in daily practice. More than half of the participants not currently applying these recommendations were willing to change their practice, but the percentage of Korean physicians willing to change was consistently more than the international average. The results of this survey of T2T recommendations in Korean rheumatologists revealed a good correlation with the views of the international rheumatology community. These results could be utilized to define key issues for better disease control in daily practice and used as a reference to improve the treatment environment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Medical Sciences, Institute for Immunology and Immunological Diseases, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Beom
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Eun-Mi
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Koh
authors.forename: Ho-Youn
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sung-Hwan
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Won
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sang Choel
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Yeong-Wook
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Dae-Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.forename: Soo-Kon
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D010820:Physicians; D012074:Remission Induction; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents
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