Characteristics of arthritis patients who seek medication information

Objective. Seeking medication information can help patients cope with illness by providing them with a sense of control. Little is known about what influences the medication information-seeking behaviors of arthritis patients. Our purpose is to document the information sources arthritis patients use most and explore the associations between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and patient medication information-seeking.

Methods. Adult patients (n=328) with self-reported doctor-diagnosed osteoarthritis (OA) or rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were recruited from multiple sources and completed an online cross-sectional survey. Patients self-reported sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Bivariate analyses were used to investigate the relationships between information source use, patient demographic and clinical characteristics of interest and information-seeking.

Results. The mean patient age was 56 years (±13; range 19–85). Most patients were female (79%) and white (80%) and the median arthritis duration was 11 years. There was a significant difference (all p<0.001) in arthritis patients seeking more information from professional (e.g., doctors, nurses) versus media sources (e.g., internet, brochures) (t(324)=9.93); professional versus informal interpersonal (e.g., friends, family) sources (t(321)= 21.57); and media versus informal interpersonal sources (t(321)= 14.51). Greater information-seeking was associated with greater arthritis severity, RA, black race, and college and lower levels of education. Patient age, arthritis duration, and age of diagnosis were not significantly associated with information-seeking.

Conclusion. Public health efforts related to medication education for arthritis patients should focus on professional and media source delivery and efforts should account for demographic and clinical differences in patient information-seeking.