Current issue
Archive
Online first
About the Journal
Editorial Office
Editorial Board
Publisher
Editorial Policies
Ethical standards and procedures
Abstracting and indexing
Reviewers
Honorary Reviewers
Subscription
Contact
Most read articles
Instructions for authors
Article processing charge (APC)
Books and Events
Books
Events
REVIEW PAPER
Evaluation of quality of life in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with leflunomide –
a literature review
Online publication date: 2012-06-27
Reumatologia 2012;50(3):227-232
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic progressive process of inflamed synovial joints, leading to their deformation, dysfunction, and consequently even disability. The incidence of RA in the general population is 0.3–1.5%. RA greatly reduces the smooth functioning of the patient in everyday life. Studies evaluating the quality of life (HRQoL – Health-Related Quality of Life) with RA entered the canon of the evaluation of therapy, as an indicator of its efficiency and quality.
Purpose: The aim of the study is to review the available literature on the assessment of quality of life of patients with RA treated with leflunomide and general characteristics of the available questionnaires used in the assessment of HRQoL.
Material and methods: Analysis of the available medical literature from databases such as PubMed, Medline, The Cochrane Library and journals.
Conclusions: Quality of life of patients with RA treated with drugs modifying the inflammatory process is an important measure of treatment efficacy. Based on available, but quite limited data, it can be concluded that leflunomide therapy improves quality of life of patients with RA, especially in the assessment made by using type-specific questionnaires (HAQ or MHAQ), as well as general, most of which used the SF-36 and WHOQoL.
Purpose: The aim of the study is to review the available literature on the assessment of quality of life of patients with RA treated with leflunomide and general characteristics of the available questionnaires used in the assessment of HRQoL.
Material and methods: Analysis of the available medical literature from databases such as PubMed, Medline, The Cochrane Library and journals.
Conclusions: Quality of life of patients with RA treated with drugs modifying the inflammatory process is an important measure of treatment efficacy. Based on available, but quite limited data, it can be concluded that leflunomide therapy improves quality of life of patients with RA, especially in the assessment made by using type-specific questionnaires (HAQ or MHAQ), as well as general, most of which used the SF-36 and WHOQoL.
REFERENCES (33)
1.
Reumatologia. Mackiewicz S, Zimmermann-Górska I (red.). Wyd. I. PZWL, Warszawa 1995.
2.
Zimmermann-Górska I. Reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów. W: Choroby reumatyczne. Zimmermann-Górska I (red.). Wydawnictwo Lekarskie PZWL, Warszawa 2004; 143-163.
3.
Sherrer YS, Bloch DA, Mitchell DM, et al. Disability in rheumatoid arthritis: comparison of prognostic factors across three populations. J Rheumatol 1987; 14: 705-709.
4.
Sherrer YS, Bloch DA, Mitchell DM, et al. The development of disability in rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 1986; 29: 494-500.
5.
Wolfe F, Michaud K. Towards an epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis outcome with respect to leflunomide randomized controlled trials overestimate treatment response and effectiveness. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2005; 44: 8-22.
6.
Hewitson PJ, DeBroe S, McBride A, Milne R. Leflunomide and rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review of effectiveness, safety and cost implications. J Clin Pharm Ther 2000; 25: 295-302.
7.
Charakterystyka Produktu Leczniczego Arava. W: AOTM, Stanowisko nr 50/15/2009 z dnia 3 sierpnia 2009 r. w sprawie finansowania ze środków publicznych leflunomidu (Arava) w drugim rzucie leczenia aktywnej postaci reumatoidalnego zapalenia stawów u dorosłych, w ramach wykazu leków refundowanych.
8.
Targońska-Stępniak B, Chudzik D, Dryglewska M, Majdan M. Ocena wpływu leczenia leflunomidem na wskaźniki procesu zapalnego u chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów. Reumatologia 2007; 45: 1-5.
9.
Rell-Bakalarska M, Rutkowska-Sak L, Kwiatkowska M i wsp. Leflunomid w terapii chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów. Reumatologia 2007; 45: 6-10.
10.
Maddison P, Kiely P, Kirkham B, et al. Leflunomide in rheumatoid arthritis: recommendations through a process of consensus. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2005; 44: 280-286.
11.
Dougados M, Emery P, Lemmel EM, et al. Efficacy and safety of leflunomide and predisposing factors for treatment response in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: RELIEF 6-month data. J Rheumatol 2003; 30: 2572-2579.
12.
Raczkiewicz-Papierska A, Dudek A, Bachta A i wsp. Leflunomid jako lek drugiego wyboru u chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów. Pol Merk Lek 2007; 22: 547-550.
13.
Chichasova NV, Igolkina EV, Brodetskaia KA, et al. Experience in long-term therapy of active rheumatoid arthritis with leflunomide. Ter Arkh 2005; 77: 33-38.
14.
Balabanova RM, Makolkin VI, Shostak NA, et al. Changes in indices of inflammatory activity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis during early stages of basic therapy with leflunomide. Ter Arkh 2004; 76: 28-32.
15.
Bao C, Chen S, Gu Y, et al. Leflunomide, a new disease-modifying drug for treating active rheumatoid arthritis in methtrexate-controlled phase II clinical trial. Chin Med J 2003; 116: 1228-1234.
16.
Kuzmanova SI, Solakov PT, Batalov AZ, et al. Leflunomide in the treatment of refractory rheumatoid arthritis. Folia Med 2003; 45: 43-47.
17.
Kalden JR, Smolen JS, Emery P, et al. Leflunomide in combination therapy. J Rheumatol Suppl 2004; 31: 25-30.
18.
Kalden JR, Antoni C, Alvaro-Gracia JM, et al. Use of combination of leflunomide with biological agents in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. J Rheumatol 2005; 32: 1620-1631.
19.
van Riel PL, Smolen JS, Emery P, et al. Leflunomide: a manageable safety profile. J Rheumatol 2004; 31: 21-24.
20.
Jonem R, Williams B, Oed C, Rosenburg and European Leflunomide Study Group JR Kalden, et al. with leflunomide versus sulfasalazine. European Leflunomide Study Group. Improved functional ability in patients with rheumatoid arthritis – longterm treatment. J Rheumatol 2001; 28: 1983-1991.
21.
Strand V, Tugwell P, Bombardier C, et al. Function and health-related quality of life: results from a randomized controlled trial of leflunomide versus methotrexate or placebo in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Leflunomide Rheumatoid Arthritis Investigators Group. Arthritis Rheum 1999; 42: 1870-1878.
22.
Uhlig T, Haavardsholm EA, Kvien TK. Comparison of the Health Assessment Questionnair (HAQ) and the modi?ed HAQ (MHAQ) in patient with rheumatoid arthritis. Rheumatology 2006; 45: 454-458.
23.
Ware JE, Kosiński M, Keller SD. SF-36 physical and mental health summary scale: a user’s manual. Health Institute, Boston 1994.
24.
Żołnierczyk-Zreda D, Wrześniewski K, Bugajska J, Jędryka-Góral A. Polska wersja kwestionariusza SF-36v2 do badania jakości życia. CIOP PIB, Warszawa 2009.
25.
Wrześniewski K. Jak badać jakość życia pacjentów kardiologicznych? Kardiol Pol 2009; 67: 7.
26.
McEwen J, Hunt S, McKenna S. A measure of perceived health: the Nottingham Health Profile. In: Measurement in health promotion and protection. Abellin T, Brzeziński ZJ, Carstairs VDI (eds.). World Health Organization, Copenhagen 1987; 590-603.
27.
Hunt SM. Measuring health in clinical care and clinical trials. In: Measuring health: a practical approach, Telling Smith G (ed.). John & Sons, Chichester 1986.
28.
Lis J, Jahnz-Różyk K, Hermanowski T i wsp. Koszty. Jakość i wyniki w ochronie zdrowia. Polskie Towarzystwo Farmakoekonomiczne, Warszawa 2009; 106.
29.
Bączyk G, Kleka P, Ochmańska M. Ocena właściwości psychometrycznych polskiej wersji Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales (AIMS-2) dla chorych na reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów. Reumatologia 2009; 47: 282-289.
30.
Tugwell P, Wells G, Strand V, et al. Clinical Improvement as reflected in measures of function and Health-Related Quality Of Life following treatment with leflunomide compared with methotrexate in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2000; 43: 506-514.
31.
Schattenkirchner M. The use of leflunomide in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis: An experimental and clinical review. Immunopharmacology 2000; 47: 291-298.
32.
Mladenovic V, Domljan Z, Rozman B, et al. Safety and effectiveness of leflunomide in the treatment of patients with active rheumatoid arthritis: results of a randomized, placebo-controlled, phase II study. Arthritis Rheum 1995; 38: 1595-1603.
33.
Schiff M, Kaine J for the Leflunomide RA Investigators Group, Sharp J, Strand V. X-ray analysis of 12 months treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis with leflunomide compared to placebo or methotrexate. Arthritis Rheum 1998; 41: S155.
Copyright: © Narodowy Instytut Geriatrii, Reumatologii i Rehabilitacji w Warszawie. This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2084-9834 |
| ISSN: | 0034-6233 |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
