Diferencias en el manejo de la artritis reumatoide precoz y establecida

Objective: To assess the differences in the clinical and therapeutic management of early and established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinical practice. Methods: Retrospective and multicentre study including 360 patients diagnosed with RA. During the 12 months prior to the study, onset, sociodemographic, clinical and therapeutic data were collected by clinical chart review. Results: A total of 152 patients with early RA and 208 with established RA were studied. 97.5% had received disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and 43.6% a TNFa blocker between the diagnosis and the start of the study. Established RA patients used TNFa blockers more frequently than early RA patients (60,1% vs 21,1%, p < 0,001). Methotrexate was the most commonly used drug (70.6%). A treatment change was seen in 79% of patients with early RA and 60.6% of those with established RA. A dose