Rheumatoid arthritis: its economic burden and health-related quality of life in Colombia and worldwide: A Scoping Review Artritis reumatoide: carga económica y calidad de vida relacionada con la salud en Colombia y en el mundo: Revisión de alcance

Abstract

Introduction: the rise in chronic diseases is one of the major threats to health and sustainability of care systems. To this end, risk adjustments allow the development of population classification programs which become instruments to implement care models based on morbidity, risk classification and cost, and for developing predictive models and analyzing per capita costs based on population characteristics, leading to achieve a better financial management.  As part of primary care, risk management should anticipate diseases for their early diagnosis and timely treatment, aimed at reducing their severity and sequelae. Some cause great costs for the health care system, affecting its balance and sustainability, such as, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), considered a high-cost disease, due to its impact and comorbidities. Objective: to review studies on economic burden (EB), burden of disease (BoD1), out-of-pocket expenses, catastrophic health expenditures (CHE) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), in patients with RA in Colombia and worldwide, between 2010 and 2022. Methods: a scoping review of 482 articles, 139 on EB and BoD1, 14 on out-of-pocket expenses and CHE, and 329 on HRQoL, found in the indexed literature in the Scopus, Medline through Pubmed and JSTOR databases in English and Spanish. Results: a trend in the growth of the literature, was observed, with a predominance of reports on biological therapies, considering EB and BoD1 and HRQoL as well, followed by healthcare studies and systematic literature reviews (SLR). The United States leads this research, followed by the United Kingdom; the most used questionnaire to assess health-related quality of life was the SF-36 (41.9%) followed by the EQ- 5D (19%) and although the Qol–RA (Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis Scale) validated in Colombia is available, it is seldom used. Conclusions: the increase of studies on healthcare costs has gained great relevance for learning about reality and creating instructions on risk management, teach concepts, analyze impact scenarios, and study sensitivities, while showing all the possible results.