Rosenwald Kent, Ertl Kristyn, Fletcher Kathlyn E, Whittle Jeff
Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA.
J Prim Care Community Health. 2012 Oct 1;3(4):272-7. doi: 10.1177/2150131912442388. Epub 2012 Apr 4.
Although arthritis is disabling, highly prevalent, and often treated without health professional input, little is known about the treatments selected by affected individuals. Such information is important because of the toxicity associated with some arthritis treatments.
To describe the pattern of drug treatment use in a sample of persons with arthritis.
The authors distributed an 11-item survey to veterans attending veterans' organization post meetings in southeastern Wisconsin during November and December 2009. Of 32 posts, 26 (81%) returned surveys from 446 persons; survey count and attendance figures suggest that the majority of attendees completed surveys at participating posts. Most respondents were older (75% aged 60 years or older) men (90%). Respondents with arthritis reported whether they had used each of seven drug therapies in the past year.
Almost all members of participating posts responded to the survey, increasing the likelihood that this was a representative sample. Most respondents (290 of 446, 65%) reported having arthritis, which impaired function in 78.6% of them. Most of those with arthritis (252 of 290, 86.9%) had used at least one drug treatment for arthritis in the last year. Acetaminophen use (41.0%) and use of an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (42.1%) were common. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use did not decrease with older age or increase with greater functional impairment.
Self-medication for arthritis is common and often does not follow clinical guidelines. Efforts to improve the quality of osteoarthritis care that focus solely on health care providers are unlikely to ensure optimal osteoarthritis care.
尽管关节炎会使人致残，且极为常见，常常在没有医疗专业人员指导的情况下进行治疗，但对于患者所选用的治疗方法却知之甚少。鉴于某些关节炎治疗方法存在毒性，此类信息至关重要。
描述关节炎患者样本中药物治疗的使用模式。
作者于2009年11月和12月向参加威斯康星州东南部退伍军人组织会后会议的退伍军人发放了一份包含11个条目的调查问卷。在32个分会场中，有26个（81%）返回了446人的调查问卷；调查数量和参会人数表明，大多数参会者在参与调查的分会场完成了问卷。大多数受访者为老年男性（75%年龄在60岁及以上，90%为男性）。患有关节炎的受访者报告了他们在过去一年中是否使用过七种药物疗法中的每一种。
几乎所有参与分会场的成员都对调查做出了回应，这增加了该样本具有代表性的可能性。大多数受访者（446人中的290人，65%）报告患有关节炎，其中78.6%的人功能受到影响。大多数患有关节炎的人（290人中的252人，86.9%）在过去一年中至少使用过一种治疗关节炎的药物。对乙酰氨基酚的使用率（41.0%）和非处方非甾体抗炎药的使用率（42.1%）都很常见。非甾体抗炎药的使用并没有随着年龄增长而减少，也没有随着功能损害加重而增加。
关节炎自我用药很常见，且往往不遵循临床指南。仅关注医疗服务提供者来提高骨关节炎护理质量的努力不太可能确保最佳的骨关节炎护理。
