This week OBRI researcher and PhD student Mark Tatangelo will travel to Rome to present OBRI research at the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Annual Scientific Meeting in Italy. The international meeting has become the primary platform for the exchange of scientific and clinical knowledge on the treatment and management of rheumatic disease in Europe. From June 10th -13th experts in rheumatology care and research from around the world will meet to share their knowledge and expertise.
Tatangelo’s presentation titled: Disease activity patterns in rheumatoid arthritis in the first 3-years of follow-up in usual care: Markov modelling shows rapid improvement in DAS28 states in the 1st year followed by stable states in the last 2 years, explores changes in disease state for Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the use of Markov modelling to predict changes in disease state over time. Results indicate that patients often experience numerous changes in disease state in the first 1.5 years of treatment, followed by more stable disease activity after 1.5 years with few changes in disease state. Dr. Tomlinson, Dr. Kuriya, and Dr. Bombardier are co-authors on this study.
Other OBRI research to be presented at EULAR includes research on the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and its associations with disease severity in RA patients by Cui, Jacob, Widdifield, Pope, Kuriya, Akhavan, and Bombardier, and a study on the characterization of patient-reported pain medications in rheumatoid arthritis patients by Kelkar, Cesta, Li, and Bombardier.
Dr. Jessica Widdifield will also attend EULAR to present her research titled, Comparisons of Reporting and Level of Agreement of Co-morbidities Ascertained from Rheumatologists, Patients and Health Administrative Data: A Data Linkage Study among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis.
The EULAR is a pan-European organization focused on reducing the burden of rheumatic disease through research, education, and the effective treatment and management of disease. As an organization, EULAR represents people with arthritis, rheumatologists, researchers, and other health professionals of European nations. For more information on EULAR, or to view their scientific program, please visit their website: http://www.congress.eular.org/.