As part of the EULAR Congress, which took place from 2 to 5 June, Galapagos presented the first results of a survey providing information on patients’ and physicians’ attitudes towards treatment-to-target setting for rheumatoid arthritis in Europe. This data includes opinions of 300 doctors and their patients (more than 3000 people) in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK).
(1) While surveyed rheumatologists reported that 66% of patients had a treatment plan with set goals, nearly a third (29%) of patients felt that neither their doctor nor themselves had set goals when discussing treatment options. Only 29% of patients acknowledged that they had been involved in goal setting.
(2) From the patient’s perspective, the treatment goals were remission, symptom control, and quality of life improvement. The most common treatment goals for physicians were remission, improved quality of life, and pain reduction.
The most frequently cited reasons for not setting treatment goals in advance were the physician’s preference not to modify current treatment (34%), the patient’s preference not to modify current treatment (23%), and the lack of achievable goals for the patient (16%).
Impact of the treat-to-target strategy in rheumatoid arthritis
The strategy to treat rheumatoid arthritis with fixed targets involves pre-determining these targets, assessing them at predetermined time points, and agreeing to change therapeutic approaches if they are not met.
This study underscores the need to promote greater patient involvement in treatment decision-making, especially in those with moderate to high disease activity. Therefore, further research is needed to identify and understand the goals that are important for RA patients, said Erik Present, Medical Director Galapagos Benelux: “It is important to work with both patients and healthcare providers to set achievable goals, in addition to remission, for all stages of disease activity. At Galapagos, we want to continue to focus on the health outcomes that really matter for people living with rheumatoid arthritis and responding to their needs. ”
Prevalence and Burden of Rheumatoid Arthritis
RA is a chronic, progressive, systemic inflammatory disease that can cause significant and irreversible joint inflammation, pain and stiffness. (3)
In Europe, nearly 3 million people in Europe (4) suffer from and one in nine people in the Netherlands has some form of rheumatism. (5) Despite treatment, many patients experience a reduced quality of life due to stiffness, fatigue, pain and disability.
(6 7 8 9) About the methodology of the study The Adelphi™
RA-specific program consisted of a quantitative survey conducted among rheumatologists (n=296) and their RA patients (n=3,042) in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK) between Q4 2019 and Q3 2020.
The doctors were selected from publicly available lists through an online survey. The 10-12 patients proposed by each physician were asked to voluntarily answer a questionnaire (n=1,098, response rate 36%), which collected data on their attitude to the treat-to-target strategy and goals .
About Galapagos
Galapagos NV discovers, develops and commercializes drugs with novel modes of action. Some drugs have already shown promising results in patients, and are currently at an advanced stage of research in various diseases. Our pipeline consists of research programs through to Phase 3 studies in inflammatory diseases, fibrosis and other indications. Our ambition is to become a leading international biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and marketing of innovative medicines. Learn more at www.glpg.com.
Source: Galapagos
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1Fautrel B. et al. Physician and Patient Attitudes towards Treat-to-Target, its Implementation and StatedTreatment Goals in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Real-World Setting across Europe. EULAR 2021, Abstract N°: 893.
2van Vollenhoven R. Treat-to-target in rheumatoid arthritis -are we there yet? Nat RevRheumatol. 2019;15(3):180-6.
3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/basics/rheumatoid-arthritis.html. Last accessed: May 2021.
4National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS). European Fit for Work report. Available at: https://www.nras.org.uk/european-fit-for-work-report. Last accessed: May 2021.
5www.reumanederland.nl, geraadpleegd op 8 juni 2021.6Matcham F, et al. The impact of rheumatoid arthritis on quality-of-life assessed using the SF-3
6: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum.2014 Oct;44(2):123-30. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2014.05.001.
7Alemao E, et al. Effects of Achieving Target Measures in Rheumatoid Arthritis on Functional Status, Quality of Life, and Resource Utilization: Analysis of Clinical Practice Data. Arthritis Care Res. 2016; 68(3):308–317. doi: 10.1002/acr.22678.
8Bacconnier L, et al. Psychological distress over time in early rheumatoid arthritis: results from a longitudinal study in an early arthritis cohort. Rheumatol. 2015;54(3):520–527. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keu371.
9Dale J, et al. The Scottish Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (SERA) Study: an inception cohort and biobank. BMC MusculoskeletDisord. 2016;17(1):461. doi: 10.1186/s12891-016-1318-y.
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