Determinants of adherence to disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in White British and South Asian patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a cross sectional study

Table 1 Demographic data for all participants. Unless otherwise indicated data are number (%) or median (interquartile range)

	White	South Asian	P value
Number	91	89
Age, years; mean (SD)	57.74 (12.74)	52.46(12.94)	0.006^a
Female	56 (61)	69 (77)	0.024^b
Level of education			0.538^c
Primary	0 (0)	11 (12)
Secondary	49 (54)	33 (38)
College	21 (23)	26 (30)
University	21 (23)	18 (20)
Number of years of education	14 (11–16)	15 (11–17)	0.439^c
Employment			0.001^b
Full time	33 (36)	31 (35)
Part time	3 (3)	8 (9)
Unemployment	3 (3)	1 (1)
Never employed	0 (0)	1 (1)
Not working due to RA	12 (13)	15 (17)
Not working for other reason	19 (21)	7 (8)
Home maker**	4 (4)	18 (20)
Retired	17 (19)	8 (9)
Preferred language spoken by patient			<0.001^b
English	91 (100)	51 (57)
Punjabi	0 (0)	29 (33)
Urdu	0 (0)	6 (7)
Hindi	0 (0)	3 (3)
Language spoken with GP			<0.001^b
English	91 (100)	68 (76)
Punjabi	0 (0)	16 (18)
Urdu	0 (0)	3 (3)
Hindi	0 (0)	2 (2)
Patient Literacy***			<0.001^b
Yes	90 (99)	71 (80)
No	1 (1)	18 (20)
Number of years in UK, mean (SD)	NA	31.76 (11.6)
DAS CRP, mean (SD)	4.02 (0.83)*	3.76 (0.81)*	0.034^a
Disease duration (years)	5 (2–11)	7 (3–13)	0.173^c
Oral/biologic DMARDs
Methotrexate	77 (84.6)	81 (91.0)	0.256^b
Sulphasalazine	38 (41.8)	42 (47.2)	0.549^b
Hydroxychloroquine	10 (11.0)	11 (12.4)	0.820^b
Anti-TNF	45 (49.5)	35 (39.3)	0.181^b
Other	8 (8.8)	7 (7.9)	1.000^b

^at-test, ^bFisher’s exact test, ^cMann-Whitney, *(CRP was available on 91 White British, 86 South Asian patients (Level of education; was available on 91 White British patients, and 88 South Asian patients) **(A homemaker is defined as “a person who manages the household of his or her own family, especially as a principal occupation) ***(patients’ ability to read and write in their preferred language)

ISSN: 1471-2474