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Background: RA significantly impacts individuals' lives, yet its specific effects on economic trajectories, particularly earnings, remain underexplored. Objectives: To examine the long-term effects of incident RA on individuals' earnings. Methods: Swedish register data were used, including demographic information, taxed earnings (€), healthcare use, and medication prescriptions. Participants were RA patients aged 30-60y diagnosed between 2006 and 2017. Patients with a diagnosis of RA were compared to same-sex siblings (n=2467:2467; mean 48y; 72% women). Earnings data from 2001-2019 were retrieved from Statistics Sweden. Results: Patients with RA and their siblings had similar earnings prior to the year of diagnosis (Figure 1). During the year of diagnosis and thereafter, statistically significantly lower earnings were observed in patients with RA compared to their siblings (5.8% or €1369 95%CI 660-2078 less per year than same-sex siblings; Figure 1). Patients diagnosed before 2011 earned significantly less than siblings (8.8% or €1879 95%CI 967-2791 less per year than same-sex siblings). However, for patients diagnosed after 2011, there was no significant difference in earnings compared to their siblings (2.4% or €562, 95%CI -394-1519 less per year than same-sex siblings). Subgroup analyses showed that the negative impact on earnings was stronger for older individuals, women, and those with lower education levels. Conclusion: RA diagnosis was associated with lower earnings, particularly for older individuals, women, and those with lower education levels. Notably, patients diagnosed before 2011 had lower earnings, while those diagnosed after 2011 did not, compared to sibling comparators. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: Heather Miller: None declared, Martin Neovius Participation in talks as advisory board member between 2011-2016, Independent consultant before 2009, Agreements between Karolinska Institutet (with JA as PI) and Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, mainly for the national safety monitoring of rheumatology immunomodulators in Sweden (ARTIS), Johan Askling Agreements between Karolinska Institutet (with JA as PI) and Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, mainly for the national safety monitoring of rheumatology immunomodulators in Sweden (ARTIS), Gustaf Bruze Agreements between Karolinska Institutet (with JA as PI) and Abbvie, BMS, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi, mainly for the national safety monitoring of rheumatology immunomodulators in Sweden (ARTIS).
Miller et al. (Sat,) studied this question.