title: Utilization patterns of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in elderly rheumatoid arthritis patients.
abstract: This study was conducted to investigate disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) utilization in Korean elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We used data from January 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims database. The study subjects were defined as patients aged 65 yr or older with at least two claims with a diagnosis of RA. DMARD use was compared by the patients' age-group, gender, medical service, and geographic divisions. The patterns of DMARD use in mono- and combination therapy were calculated. RA medication use was calculated by the number of defined daily doses (DDD)/1,000 patients/day. A total of 166,388 patients were identified during the study period. DMARD use in RA patients was 12.0%. The proportion of DMARD use was higher in the younger elderly, females, and patients treated in big cities. Hydroxychloroquine was the most commonly used DMARD in monotherapy, and most of the combination therapies prescribed it with methotrexate. DMARD use in elderly RA patients was noticeably low, although drug prescriptions showed an increasing trend during the study period, clinicians may need to pay more attention to elderly RA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Xue-Mei
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1132-7271
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joongyub
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2784-3772
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Collaborating Center, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. ; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Nam-Kyong
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1153-9928
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Mi
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6681-4291
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.affiliation: Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ju-Young
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-2791-1037
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ye-Jee
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3307-2970
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi-Sook
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4505-9167
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Bo Ram
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8771-8829
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Korea Institute of Drug Safety and Risk Management, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Joo
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4630-4942
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Park
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006886:Hydroxychloroquine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009313:National Health Programs; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents; D006886:Hydroxychloroquine; D008727:Methotrexate
keywords: Antirheumatic Agents; Arthritis, Rheumatoid; Database; Utilization