Exploring Impact of Multidisciplinary Care on Patient Activation in Saudi Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Cross-Sectional Survey—Extended Results from the COPARA National Project

INTRODUCTION: Multidisciplinary setting in healthcare provide positive patient outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of specialized rheumatology clinics (multidisciplinary settings) on the activation and engagement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional survey assessed patient activation using the patient activation measure-13. Participants attending Specialized Rheumatology Clinics (SRC multidisciplinary clinics) were compared with age- and sex-matched patients attending Standard of Care (SOC). The study was observational in nature, assessing several demographic and therapeutic options and their relation to the clinical setting and patient activation. RESULTS: This study included 117 SRC matched RA patients with 117 SOC. The majority of the included patients were female (n=211, 90.2%), >40 years of age (n=177, 75.6%), and had intermediate-to-high education (n=147, 62.8%). Patients in the SRC were also more likely to have activation levels 3 and 4 with an odds ratio of 3.194 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.835–5.562, p<0.001). In addition, SRC participants were more likely to be in levels 3 and 4 activation, even after adjustment for confounding variables, with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.401 (95% CI 1.121–4.758, p=0.012) and 2.175 (95% CI 1.127–4.196, p=0.020), respectively. CONCLUSION: Establishing SRC for RA patients seems to have a positive impact on patient activation and engagement and adds to the previously explored benefits of multidisciplinary care in chronic disease management.