Chopra, Arvind and Lin, Hsiao-Yi and Navarra, Sandra and Saeed, Muhammad Ahmed and Sockalingam, Sargunan and Thongpooswan, Supat and Jois, Ramesh and Salim, Babur and Lee, Ka Wing Gavin and Lau, Tang Ching and Wee, James (2021) Rheumatoid arthritis management in the APLAR region: Perspectives from an expert panel of rheumatologists, patients and community oriented program for control of rheumatic diseases. International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases, 24 (9). pp. 1106-1111. ISSN 1756-1841, DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-185X.14185.
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a major health burden in Asia Pacific affecting the quality of life of patients and consuming healthcare resources. According to recent estimates from the World Health Organization-International League Against Rheumatism-Community Oriented Program for Control of Rheumatic Diseases, prevalence is around 0.3%-0.5%. Management guidelines have helped to improve treatment across this diverse region. To gain better insight into current real-world management applications in view of these guidelines, virtual meetings were conducted in mid-2020 to explore perspectives of rheumatologists and patients, as well as discuss the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on RA management. Patients and rheumatologists from Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan were included, representing a diverse mix of healthcare systems, wealth, ethnicity and culture. Despite many countries having prospered in recent years, similar challenges in RA diagnosis and treatment were identified. The daily impact and patient experience of RA were also similar across countries, marked by ``silent'' pain and disability, and universal misunderstanding of the disease. Late diagnosis and treatment, and barriers to access to appropriate treatment, remain problematic. The experience shared by Taiwan offers a glimmer of hope, however, wherein patient advocacy groups have succeeded in being included in policy-making decisions and securing access to advanced treatment. Real-world solutions that pay heed to the unique local needs and diversity of Asia Pacific are required to improve RA management, which will take time. In the interim, help can be sought from the trained, non-rheumatologist community to reduce some of the disease burden.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Funders: | Pfizer |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | APLAR region;Current management;Patient journey;Rheumatoid arthritis |
| Subjects: | R Medicine R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RB Pathology R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Medicine |
| Depositing User: | Ms Zaharah Ramly |
| Date Deposited: | 14 Sep 2022 00:33 |
| Last Modified: | 14 Sep 2022 00:33 |
| URI: | http://eprints.um.edu.my/id/eprint/34425 |
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