ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Rheumatology
This article is part of the Research TopicReproductive Issues In Lupus, Antiphospholipid Syndrome And Other Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: Highlights From RheumaPreg 2025View all 4 articles
PRAISE-H Study Exploring Real-World Challenges Faced by Reproductive-Age Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis in Japan
Provisionally accepted
- Japan Drug Information Institute in Pregnancy Integrated Center for Women's Health, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo, Japan
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We explored the design and preliminary findings of the Pregnancy and Rheumatoid Arthritis Registry (PRAISE-H), a Japan-wide prospective registry of reproductive-age patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that captures challenges in daily life and complements large database research. PRAISE-H is a nationwide multicentre prospective observational study in which physician assessments and patient-reported outcomes are collected biannually via REDCap over 5 years, with dedicated follow-up during pregnancy and up to 12 months postpartum. As of November 2024, 100 patients (90 women and 10 men) had been registered, and 77 patients (70 women and seven men) were under follow-up. Preliminary analyses showed that 62% of women expressed current or future pregnancy intention. In addition, substantial financial toxicity was observed, particularly among patients receiving biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs). By emphasising patients' experiences in everyday environments, PRAISE-H provides insights beyond the scope of conventional database studies. These findings may inform clinical guidelines and health policy initiatives aimed at improving the management of RA in women of childbearing age. Although bDMARDs are increasingly considered viable treatment options during pregnancy, their associated financial consequences warrant further investigation.
Keywords: Biologic DMARDs, Financial toxicity, patient-reported outcomes, Pregnancy registry, Real-world data, Reproductive-age patients, Rheumatoid arthritis
Received: 22 Dec 2025; Accepted: 11 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Takai, Fujioka and Goto. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chinatsu Takai
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