IMPACT of COVID-19 NEWS SOURCES on RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS' LIFESTYLE and THEIR DISEASE ACTIVITY from NINJA 2020 COHORT STUDY

ABSTRACT

Background: One of the problems with the COVID-19 epidemic is infodemic. Insufficient and inaccurate information can be confusing and hinder treatment. In Japan, tabloid TV show might be an easily accessible source of information, but its reliability is low and it has a harmful effect on patients' mental status and lifestyle. There are no reports to examine what is the source of COVID-19 news for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and how these information affect patients' daily lives and disease activity. By using NinJa, Japanese largest database of rheumatoid arthritis, it may be possible to examine them in detail. Objectives: To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 news sources on rheumatoid arthritis patients' lifestyle and their disease activity using NinJa 2020 cohort study. Methods: At the timing of collection of patients' data of NinJa2020, questionnaire about their lifestyle and news source of COVID-19 was given. Questionnaire includes questions about frequency of scheduled visit, going out and exercise, weakness and news source. Results: 6677 patients out of 15553 patients answered questionnaire. Most patients did not change the interval of scheduled visit. The frequency of hospital visits was 'unchanged' in 85.8%, 'longer' in 13.6%, and 'shortened' in 0.6%. The chances of going out were 'unchanged' at 14.4%, 'signifcantly decreased' at 57.5%, 'slightly decreased' at 27.8%, and 'increased' at 0.3%. 42.6% answered that the amount of exercise did not change, 30.2% answered that it decreased considerably, 26.1% answered that it decreased a little, and 1.1% answered that it increased. Regarding muscular strength and physical strength, 46.0% answered 'no change', 19.9% answered 'signifcantly dropped', 33.5% answered 'slightly dropped', and 0.6% answered 'increased'. The media used as information sources are 'newspaper (86.4%)', 'tabloid show (54.5%)', 'family, acquaintances and friends (43.7%)', and 'official web of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare and academic societies (9.4. %)'. Respondents often referred to multiple media and 30.6% of them listed three sources (Figure 1). There was a positive correlation between the decrease in frequency of going out and the number of information sources, and a negative correlation between age and the number of information sources. We also found a negative correlation with age for muscle weakness. No correlation was found between the number of information sources and SDAI, CDAI, HAQ-DI, EQ-5D, HADS (A), HADS (D). Conclusion: The more sources of information, the less chance of going out. About 80% of the patients refrained from going out, the opportunity for exercise decreased in more than 50% of the patients, and the decrease in physical ft-ness was also noticed in nearly 50% of the patients. Newspapers, tabloid shows, and acquaintances were the most common sources of medical information, and relatively few patients used official sources. He provision of accurate information about COVID-19 was important to avoid infodemic. From this questionnaire, more practical information delivery system was required in Japan.