Treatment satisfaction with rheumatoid arthritis in patients with different disease severity and financial burden: A subgroup analysis of a nationwide survey in China / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

BACKGROUND@#Despite the recent advances in treatments for rheumatoid arthritis (RA), there are still unmet needs in disease outcomes. This study aimed to analyze the satisfaction with drug therapies for RA according to the levels of disease severity (patient-assessed) and proportions of treatment cost to household income.@*METHODS@#This was a subgroup study of a cross-sectional study in patients with RA and their physicians. The patients were subdivided into different subgroups based on their self-assessed severity of RA and on the proportions of treatment cost to household income (50%). The Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication version II was used to assess patients' treatment satisfaction.@*RESULTS@#When considering all medications, effectiveness, convenience, and global satisfaction scores were lower in the severe and moderate RA subgroups than those in the mild and extremely mild RA subgroups (all P 50% subgroup (all P 50% subgroups (F = 12.646, P = 0.005). Global satisfaction score was higher in the <10% subgroup than that in the 31% to 50% subgroup (F = 8.794, P = 0.032).@*CONCLUSION@#Higher disease severity and higher financial burden were associated with lower patient satisfaction.

Levels of serum procalcitonin and C-reactive protein for evaluating pulmonary bacterial infection in patients with lupus erythematosus / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

The severity of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with pulmonary bacterial infection varies widely. We investigated the significance of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in evaluating the severity of pulmonary infection in SLE patients. This retrospective study contained a total of 117 patients (107 women and 10 men) with SLE from January 2010 to June 2011. Serum levels of PCT and CRP were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The severity of pulmonary bacterial infection (PBI) was evaluated using the pneumonia severity index (PSI). SLE patients with PBI, particularly those with bacterial isolates, had significantly higher levels of serum PCT and CRP than those without PBI. Serum PCT and CRP were not associated with SLE disease activity, but positively with the values of PSI in active SLE patients with PBI. Serum levels of PCT and CRP may be additional biomarkers in evaluating the severity of PBI in lupus patients.