WHAT DO PATIENTS AND RHEUMATOLOGISTS REGARD AS AN ‘ACCEPTABLE’ RISK IN THE TREATMENT OF RHEUMATIC DISEASE?

A questionnaire designed to ascertain the risk of adverse effects which patients with rheumatic conditions would accept for a particular therapeutic outcome was administered to 50 patients. The same questionnaire together with «potted» histories of five of the patients was sent to 10 consultant rheumatologists. Doctors were also more willing to risk side-effects in treating seropositive rheumatoid arthritis than in treating non-articular rheumatism. The risks which both groups stated they were willing to accept were less than those apparently associated with antirheumatic therapy