Awareness About Etanercept Medication in a Sample of Iraqi Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

Abstract

Background: Etanercept is a biologic agent belongs to the Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Inhibitors class and used in the management of psoriatic arthritis. Patient compliance is the most common cause of non-response to treatment. The patient's knowledge and attitude towards the medication are considered the two fundamental factors that determine patient compliance. 
Objectives of the study: To assess the extent of awareness in a sample of Iraqi patients with PsA about their Etanercept medication and determine the influence of socio-demographic and clinical characteristics on the level of awareness.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted for this study. The study  was  conducted  in  Rheumatology  outpatient  clinic  in  Baghdad Teaching Hospital – Medical City Complex. The study population includes adult  patients  (age  >18  years)  with  PsA  with  any  gender,  diagnosed according to CASPAR criteria and treated with Etanercept medication for more than one month. A consecutive convenient sample of 80 patients was collected.  A  structured  questionnaire  was  used  to  assess  the  level  of awareness of the participants, the questionnaire consists of three aspects: demographic characteristics, clinical characteristics, and awareness about Etanercept 
Results: A total of 33(41.25%) of the participants had good awareness about Etanercept, while 35 (43.75%) had fair (partial) awareness and 12 (15%) had poor awareness. There was no significant association between the level of awareness of the participants and their socio-demographic characteristics or clinical characteristics (P-value > 0.05). 
Conclusion: There is a fair level of the awareness about Etanercept among the sample of Iraqi PsA patients.