AB0293 FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH INITIATION OF BIOLOGIC DISEASE-MODIFYING ANTIRHEUMATIC DRUGS IN MOROCCAN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a progressive autoimmune disorder of joints that is associated with high health care costs, yet guidance is lacking on how early to initiate biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Few studies have examined the factors associated with the transition from non biologic DMARDs to biologic DMARDs in RA patients. Objectives: to examine the association of patient’s comorbidities with initiation of biologic DMARDs (disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: cross-sectional study was designed on a cohort of RA patients. Sociodemographic, clinical data and comorbidities were collected. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the impact of comorbidities on the initiation of bDMARD. The statistical analysis was done by SPSS. 20, p Results: among the 257 patients, 90.5% were females. Their mean age was 54.66 ± 11.9 years. The most frequent comorbidities in our population were: high blood pressure (22.5%), diabetes (16.6%), history of heart disease (5.1%), history of neoplasia (2.4%) and nephropathies (2%). RA patients with comorbidities were more likely to initiate bDMARD: high blood pressure (p = 0.003 OR=2.36, 95% CI: 1.332- 4.181), history of heart disease (p = 0.036 OR=3.01, 95% IC: 1.073-8.468) and history of neoplasia (p = 0.026 OR= 5.07, 95% CI: 1.219- 21.110). In multiple regression models, high blood pressure was associated to the initiation of biologic agents (p= 0.026, OR= 2.07, 95% CI: 1.090-3.932). Conclusion: the probability of initiating therapy with biologic agents in patients with RA is affected by different co-morbidities in our context specifically hypertension. References: [1]Machado-Alba JE, et al. Time to and factors associated with initiation of biological therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Colombia. Rev Colomb Reumatol. 2018 [2]Priyanka Gaitonde et al. Factors associated with use of disease modifying agents for rheumatoid arthritis in the National Hospital and Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism. 2017 Disclosure of Interests: None declared