Can the adherence to quality of care indicators for early rheumatoid arthritis in clinical practice reduce risk of hospitalisation? Retrospective cohort study based on the Record Linkage of Rheumatic Disease study of the Italian Society for Rheumatology

OBJECTIVE: To describe the adherence to quality of care indicators in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and to evaluate its impact on the risk of hospitalisation in a real-world setting. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Patients with early-onset RA identified from healthcare regional administrative databases by means of a validated algorithm between 2006 and 2012 in the Lombardy region (Italy). PARTICIPANTS: The study cohort included 14 203 early-onset RA (71% female, mean age 60 years). OUTCOME MEASURES: For each patient, a summary adherence score was calculated starting from the compliance to six quality indicators: (1–2) methotrexate or sulfasalazine or leflunomide with/without glucocorticoids, (3–4) other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) with/without glucocorticoids, (5) early interruption of glucocorticoids, (6) early clinical assessment. The relationship between low, intermediate and high categories of the summary score and the 12-month risk of hospitalisation for all causes and for RA was assessed. RESULTS: During a follow-up of 1 year, 2609 hospitalisations occurred, of which 704 were for RA (main or secondary diagnosis) and 252 primarily for RA. In a 7-year period (2006–2012), early DMARDs and timely clinical monitoring treatment increased (from 52% to 62% p trend <0.001 and from 25% to 30% p trend 0.009, respectively). Intermediate and high summary adherence score categories (compared with the low category) were related significantly with a lower risk of hospitalisation (adjusted HR 0.85 (95% CI 0.77 to 0.93), p<0.001 and HR 0.76 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.84), p<0.001, respectively). Among the indicators of the adherence score, early DMARD prescription showed the strongest positive impact, while long-term use of glucocorticoids was the worst negative one. CONCLUSION: In early RA, adherence to quality standards of care is associated with a lower risk of hospitalisation. Future interventions to improve the adherence to quality standards of care in this setting should decrease the risk of hospitalisation with a significant impact on individual and population health.