Rheumatoid Arthritis Perspectives Across Three Libyan Cities, Voices of Patients and Physicians; A Two-Group Survey Study
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Abstract
Arthritis in general can be classified into non-inflammatory types (e.g., osteoarthritis) and
infectious (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and Lyme disease).
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic autoimmune disorder, which is characterized by
chronic inflammation, affecting various body organs. In this study, a two-group survey
study regarding to RA medication treatment and disease management has been done. The
double survey includes perspectives from patients and physicians, from three Libyan
cities (Zilten, Al-khoms and Massallatah). In this work, one hundred patients and fifty
treating physicians are answering the two-group survey, they are almost equally from
mentioned cities.
The obtained results indicate that the majority of patients respond well to their treatment.
Despite the side effects remain a concern, the effectiveness of medications used, about
the one third of treated patients, the treatments were very effective, around two third of
treatments patients were effective, and only just < 9% they feel their treatment is not
effective. The majority of physicians have moderate experience are well-versed in
treating RA patients. The RA predominantly affect individuals aged 30 to 60 years,
Prednisolone and Methotrexate are the most commonly prescribed medications, with
supplementary medications also playing a significant role in RA treatment. Physicians
reported that irregular adherence to long-term treatments. It is not clear 100% that there
is a clear presence of protocol or national guidelines for treatment of RA patients in Libya
to the date. Furthermore, various other issues such as patients distrbution, most used
drugs, supplementary and vitamines, diet, lifestyle changes, etc have been discussed in
detail, in this manuscript. In addition, we can recommend that there is a need for
continuous monitoring, patient education, and the development of more effective
treatments for treatment of RA disease.
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