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

Table 5 Univariable analysis of medication adherence (demographics and clinical data) (Data for all participants)

Categorical variables	Median MARS score (interquartile range)	P value
Gender		0.982*
M	28 (25–30)
F	28 (24–30)
Level of education		0.083**
Primary	26 (24–27)
Secondary	27 (24–30)
College	28 (25–30)
University	28 (26–30)
Employment		0.219**
Full time	28 (25–30)
Part time	28 (22–30)
Unemployment	30 (28–30)
Never employed	23 (NA)
Not working due to RA	26 (23–30)
Not working for other reason	26 (22–30)
Home maker	26 (24–29)
Retired	29 (26–30)
English spoken by patient		<0.001*
Yes	28 (26–30)
No	24 (22–28)
Same language spoken by patient and GP		0.002*
Yes	28 (25–30)
No	24 (22–27)
Patient Literacy level		0.053*
Yes	28 (24–30)
No	24 (24–28)
Ethnicity		0.013*
White British	28 (26–30)
South Asian	26 (23–30)
Oral /Biologic DMARDs
Methotrexate		0.202*
Currently on	28 (24–30)
Not on	26 (25–28)
Sulphasalazine		0.058*
Currently on	26 (23–30)
Not on	28 (25–30)
Hydroxychloroquine		0.621*
Currently on	28 (22–30)
Not on	28 (24–30)
Anti-TNF		0.199*
Currently on	28 (24–30)
Not on	27 (24–30)
Patients’ country of birth		0.014**
UK	28^a (25–30)
India	26^a (22–29)
Pakistan	28 (27–30)
Continuous variables (Spearman correlation)
Age	0.093	0.212
Number of years of education	0.183^a	0.014
Number of years in UK	−0.177	0.165
Disease duration	0.058	0.438
DAS CRP	0.032	0.674
IMD	−0.075	0.315

^aMann–Whitney, ^bKruskal Wallis ^* India vs UK P=0.0154 (Dunn’s Test) ^* = significant at <0.05, ^** = significant at <0.01. GP = General Practitioner

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