Pôster:

Treatment of autoimmune rheumatic diseases involves the use of immunobiologicals, which are thermolabile and parenteral, requiring careful storage at recommended temperatures to maintain their efficacy and safety. The objective was evaluate the influence of storage temperature on immunobiological efficacy and safety in autoimmune rheumatic disease treatment.

Materials and methods

This observational study included adult patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases who used immunobiologicals stored at home and were followed up at the rheumatology outpatient clinic of the General University Hospital of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil, in 2017/2018. Patients were evaluated regarding disease activity and occurrence of adverse events, and a household survey of the temperature of the storage environment of these drugs was conducted.

Results

Sixty patients with a mean age of 50.4 years were evaluated. Of these, 39 patients (65%) stored their biological drug outside the recommended temperature range (Table 1). Storage of the immunobiological at the incorrect temperature was 76% higher among patients with moderate/high rheumatic disease activity (p=0.003). No significant differences were found regarding the association of adverse reactions and bDMARD storage at correct or incorrect temperatures (Table 2).

Conclusion

Most patients stored their immunobiologicals outside of the temperature range recommended in the package insert, and there was an association between incorrect storage temperature and moderate/high autoimmune rheumatic disease activity.