Comparison of the modified charlson comorbidity indices of patients with rathoritis with and without biological agent treatment

Aim: In this study, we aimed to compare the use of biological agents with the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) in patients with RA who applied to the Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Rheumatology and Internal Medicine outpatient clinic. Material and Methods: Fifty patients using biological agents and 50 patients not using biological agents were included in the study. The same questionnaire was applied to the group that received and did not receive biologic agents, and the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, the duration of the disease and the duration of active treatment, the drugs they used and the duration of using this group of drugs, and the laboratory values of the patients at the hospital admission were recorded. Apart from these, DAS28 (Disease Activity Score), HAQ (Health Assessment Questionnaire) and Modified Charlson Comorbidity Scale were applied to the patients. Data analysis was done with SPSS 21 program. Results: When the disease duration of both groups is evaluated; The mean duration of disease was 11±6.1 in the group that received biologic agents, and 6.3±6.7 in the group that did not receive biologic agents, and there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). The mean CCI score was calculated as 3.14 (±2.03) in the group that received biological agents, and 2.24 (±1.66) in the group that did not receive biological agents, and a statistically significant difference was found when the groups that received and did not receive biological agents were compared (p=0.024). Conclusion: We thought that RA has many poor prognostic criteria and a high CCI score may be among these poor prognosis criteria. We concluded that excess comorbidity may lead patients to receive more complicated treatment and may prolong the active treatment period and treatment delay. We concluded that the need for biological agents in patients with a high CCI score may increase in the following years, may increase the disease activity scores of DAS28 and HAQ, and this may be high regardless of the use of biological agents. Key words: Anti-TNFα, Biological Agent Therapy, Charlson Comorbidity Index, DMARD, Rheumatoid Arthritis