Perfil de utilização de medicamentos e saúde de pacientes com artrite reumatoide atendidos em um ambulatório de reumatologia.

Objective: to describe the profile of drug use and health of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) attended in a rheumatology clinic. Methods: this is a cross-sectional study based on the medical records of 201 patients. Results: An average age of 60 years were detected. In addition to RA, 97.5% of the patients had at least one other comorbidity, and systemic arterial hypertension (52.7%) was the most prevalent. The patients used a total of 1,826 medications, with an average of 9.1 ± 3.3 and 94.5% used 5 or more medications. The most commonly used agent for the treatment of RA was prednisone (53.2%), followed by methotrexate (50.7%), leflunomide (42.3%), and biological agents (41.8%). The majority of the patients (89.6%) also used at least one adjuvant medication to control adverse effects and 31.3% also used at least one adjuvant medication to control pain. Conclusion: It was evidenced a complex profile of drug use due to the characteristics of the disease and associated comorbidities, which requires an adequate global approach to patients’ drug therapy.