ArticleArthritis research & therapy2015
Higher education is associated with a better rheumatoid arthritis outcome concerning for pain and function but not disease activity: results from the EIRA cohort and Swedish rheumatology register.
Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Association between social deprivation and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic literature review.RMD open · 2022Pooled it
- Prevalence and Incidence of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Events Are Elevated Prior to the Development of Rheumatoid Arthritis in First-Degree Relatives.Frontiers in immunology · 2018Trial
- Avoidant/Restrictive food intake disorder in adults within the community: A mixed-method study on individual impairment and progression.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Association of German Bronchiectasis Registry participation with disease course.ERJ open research · 2026Article
- Psychosocial and behavioral correlates of persistent pain post disease-modifying treatment change in rheumatoid arthritis: a 12-month cohort study.Advances in rheumatology (London, England) · 2026Article
- Disease knowledge and quality of life among rheumatoid arthritis patients: a cross-sectional study.BMC rheumatology · 2025Article
- Why is low educational attainment linked to worse pain and function in fibromyalgia?The journal of pain · 2025Observational
- Functional disability and disease activity are affected by social determinants of health in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Clinical rheumatology · 2024Article
- Impact of Race on the Efficacy and Safety of Tofacitinib in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Post Hoc Analysis of Pooled Clinical Trials.Rheumatology and therapy · 2024Article
- Sex Differences in Pain and Quantitative Sensory Testing in Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis.Arthritis care & research · 2023Article
- Biopsychosocial Approach in Identifying Risk Factors of Kinesiophobia in Persons with Subacromial Pain Syndrome and Developing a Clinical Prediction Tool.Indian journal of orthopaedics · 2023Article
- Socioeconomic Status and Medication Use in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Scoping Review.Arthritis care & research · 2023Article
- Rheumatoid arthritis and gastroesophageal reflux disease: a bidirectional and multivariable two-sample Mendelian randomization study.Frontiers in genetics · 2023Article
- Knowledge of Saudi Patients with Autoimmune Diseases about Hydroxychloroquine Toxicity: The Role of Physician-Patient Communication.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Neither low social support nor low decision latitude at work is associated with disease remission among patients with rheumatoid arthritis: results from the Swedish EIRA study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2022Article
- Socio-demographic determinants in the evolution of pain in inflammatory rheumatic diseases: results from ESPOIR and DESIR cohorts.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Observational
- Self-Efficacy of Saudi Patients with Autoimmune Diseases in Managing Hydroxychloroquine-Induced Ocular Complications: A Cross-Sectional Survey.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Prevalence and factors associated with joint pain in Nepal: findings from a countrywide cross-sectional STEPS survey.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Perceptions of patients with rheumatoid arthritis about self-assessment of disease activity after watching an educational video: a qualitative pilot study from the AUTO-DAS in Middle Eastern Arab countries project.Rheumatology international · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionWhether low socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with worse rheumatoid arthritis (RA) outcomes in countries with general tax-financed healthcare systems (such as Sweden) remains to be elucidated. Our aim was to investigate the influence of educational background (achieving university/college degree (high) or not (low)) on the outcomes of early RA, in terms of disease activity (DAS28), pain (VAS-pain), and functional impairment (HAQ).
methodsWe evaluated DMARD-naïve RA patients recruited in the Epidemiological Investigation of RA (EIRA) study with outcomes followed in the Swedish Rheumatology Quality (SRQ) register (N = 3021). Outcomes were categorized in three ways: (1) scores equal to/above median vs. below median; (2) DAS28-based low disease activity, good response, remission; (3) scores decreased over the median vs. less than median. Associations between educational background and outcomes were calculated by modified Poisson regressions, at diagnosis and at each of the three standard (3, 6, 12 months) follow-up visits.
resultsPatients with different educational background had similar symptom durations (195 days) and anti-rheumatic therapies at baseline, and comparable treatment patterns during follow-up. Patients with a high education level had significantly less pain and less functional disability at baseline and throughout the whole follow-up period (VAS-pain: baseline: 49 (28-67) vs. 53 (33-71), p <0.0001; 1-year visit: RR = 0.81 (95% CI 0.73-0.90). HAQ: baseline: 0.88 (0.50-1.38) vs. 1.00 (0.63-1.50), p = 0.001; 1-year visit: 0.84 (0.77-0.92)). They also had greater chances to achieve pain remission (VAS-pain ≤20) after one year (1.17 (1.07-1.28)). Adjustments for smoking and BMI altered the results only marginally. Educational background did not influence DAS28-based outcomes.
conclusionIn Sweden, with tax-financed, generally accessible healthcare system, RA patients with a high education level experienced less pain and less functional disability. Further, these patients achieved pain remission more often during the first year receiving standard care. Importantly, education background affected neither time to referral to rheumatologists, disease activity nor anti-rheumatic treatments.
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