2017 Volume 29 Issue 3 Pages 182-189
Objective: To investigate comprehension of adverse effects of methotrexate (MTX) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Patients: A survey was conducted with 547 RA patients who were treated with MTX.
Results: Average age, disease duration, and period of MTX treatment were 60.5±11.3 years old, 11.7±10.3 years, and 6.0±4.7 years, respectively. Before starting MTX, 20.1% of patients knew about this drug, and 30.4% of those patients had a positive image of the “silver bullet”, while the half of the patients had a negative image such as fear of adverse effects or as a terrible drug. Almost all patients were provided medication therapy management by doctors and pharmaceutists and 41.5% of the patients understood the adverse effects properly, whereas the half of the patients did not recognize stomatitis as an adverse effect of MTX. There were some patients who had the wrong perception about transient cessation of MTX; they would not stop MTX when they had cough, fever, or infections. The elderly and patients with a short duration of RA tended to have the wrong perception. Although seminars for RA conducted by our hospital were known to 78.4% of patients, the rate of attending seminars was only 25.8%.
Conclusions: Although doctors and pharmaceutists provide medication therapy management for adverse effects and transient cessation of MTX, some patients had the wrong perception. Nurses should participate in a multidisciplinary team and let patients correctly understand the adverse effects of MTX through continuous medication therapy management.
