Introduction. Inflammatory rheumatic diseases belong to a group of diseases characterized mainly by chronic persistent inflammation within the connective tissue. The peak incidence applies mostly to the young people. These diseases are characterized by the periods of remissions and exacerbations. During the flare the functioning of the patient is significantly reduced following by deterioration in their quality of life. Improperly treated ailments can lead to a profound disability. Aim. The aim of the study was to examine the patients’ opinions on the inflammatory rheumatic disease as regards to the effectiveness of biological medicines in terms of the reduction of disease symptoms as well as their impact on the patients’ self-esteem. Material and methods. The research was conducted among patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and psoriatic arthritis (PA). All together 126 patients have been tested among whom there were 60 patients treated with disease-modifying drugs and 66 patients subjected to the biological therapy. The study was conducted in the Malopolska rheumatological wards. The research tool was the original questionnaire. Results. The patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases treated with the Disease-Modifying Drugs assessed the severity of pain as moderate and strong, while the patients subjected to the biological therapy assessed the pain mainly as a bearable and moderate. The morning stiffness lasted shorter by the patients subjected to the biological therapy than by the patients with therapy. Patients with biological therapy compared to patients treated with the disease-modifying drugs therapy. The patients subjected to the biological therapy evaluated their health condition better in comparison with the patients subjected to the disease-modifying drugs (p < 0.01). Conclusions. The biological medicaments improve substantially the perceived state of health among the patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis arthritis of the spine and psoriatic arthritis in contrast to the disease-modifying drugs users. Patients who use a biological therapy show fewer deficits in self-care than patients who use DMARDs therapy.

Key words: rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis arthritis of the spine, biological therapy.