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The experience of taking methotrexate for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: results of a cross-sectional survey with children and young people

Mulligan, K; Wedderburn, LR; Newman, S; (2015) The experience of taking methotrexate for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: results of a cross-sectional survey with children and young people. Pediatric Rheumatology , 13 (58) 10.1186/s12969-015-0052-6. Green open access

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Children and young people (CYP) with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) are known to have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL), which is improved significantly for many by treatment with methotrexate (MTX). However, a significant proportion of CYP experience difficulties in taking MTX, which may reduce its potential benefits for HRQoL. The aim of this research was to examine how CYP with JIA perceive MTX treatment and how this relates to HRQoL. METHODS: CYP aged 8-16 years taking MTX for JIA completed an adapted Parent Adherence Report Questionnaire, which contains 100 mm visual analogue scales, to assess difficulty taking MTX, adherence, frequency of negative reactions and helpfulness of MTX. They also completed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) Generic and Rheumatology scales. We collected data on age, gender, JIA course, disease duration, MTX duration of use, route and dose. Number of inflamed and limited joints were indicators of disease severity. RESULTS: One hundred sixteen CYP participated. Most considered MTX helpful (median 87; interquartile range (IQR) 50.75-98) and reported adherence was high (median 98; IQR 90-100). There was greater variability on scores for difficulty (median 22; IQR 2-69) and frequency of negative reactions (median 14.5; IQR 1.25-80). Mean (S.D.) scores on the PedsQL Physical and Psychosocial subscales were 71.63 (24.02) and 71.78 (19.59) respectively, indicating poorer HRQoL than that reported by healthy children. After controlling for demographic and disease variables, poorer physical HRQoL was significantly accounted for by greater difficulty in taking MTX. Poorer psychosocial HRQoL was significantly accounted for by subcutaneous MTX administration, a lower rating of MTX helpfulness and a greater reported difficulty in taking MTX. CONCLUSIONS: Taking MTX for JIA was viewed as helpful by most CYP but HRQoL was poorer in those who reported greater difficulty in taking MTX.

Type: Article
Title: The experience of taking methotrexate for juvenile idiopathic arthritis: results of a cross-sectional survey with children and young people
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1186/s12969-015-0052-6
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12969-015-0052-6
Additional information: © 2015 Mulligan et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Medical Sciences > Div of Medicine
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Infection, Immunity and Inflammation Dept
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1476524
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