Use of disease-modifying medications for rheumatoid arthritis by race and ethnicity in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

OBJECTIVE: Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are recommended for virtually all patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated the use of DMARDs in patients with RA in a nationally representative sample of visits to US physicians in the National Ambulatory Care Medical Survey (NAMCS). METHODS: We analyzed the NAMCS visit data from 1996 through 2007 if the physician noted a diagnosis of RA. DMARD utilization was based on the medications listed by the physician. We used generalized linear models to examine the adjusted associations between DMARD use and potential predictors. RESULTS: Of the 859 visits with a diagnosis code of RA identified over the study period, 404 visits (47%; 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 44-50%) had an associated DMARD. The percentage of RA visits with DMARDs increased slightly over the 12 years (P = 0.048), with biologic DMARDs increasing to 20% of visits after their introduction (P for trend