@article {Plasenciajrheum.141128, author = {Chamaida Plasencia and Eva L. Kneepkens and Gertjan Wolbink and Charlotte L.M. Krieckaert and Samina Turk and Victoria Navarro-Comp{\'a}n and Merel L{\textquoteright}Ami and Mike T. Nurmohamed and Irene van der Horst-Bruinsma and Teresa Jurado and Cristina Diego and Gema Bonilla and Alejandro Villalba and Diana Peiteado and Laura Nu{\~n}o and Desiree van der Kleij and Theo Rispens and Emilio Mart{\'\i}n-Mola and Alejandro Balsa and Dora Pascual-Salcedo}, title = {Comparing Tapering Strategy to Standard Dosing Regimen of Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors in Patients with Spondyloarthritis in Low Disease Activity}, elocation-id = {jrheum.141128}, year = {2015}, doi = {10.3899/jrheum.141128}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {Objective To compare clinical outcomes, incidence of flares, and administered drug reduction between patients with spondyloarthritis (SpA) under TNF inhibitor (TNFi) tapering strategy with patients receiving a standard regimen. Methods In this retrospective study, 74 patients with SpA from Spain on tapering strategy (tapering group; TG) were compared with 43 patients from the Netherlands receiving a standard regimen (control group; CG). The Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) was measured at visit 0 (prior to starting the TNFi), visit 1 (prior to starting tapering strategy in TG and at least 6 months with BASDAI \< 4 after starting the TNFi in the TG and CG), visit 2 (6 mos after visit 1), visit 3 (1 year after visit 1), and visit 4 (the last visit available after visit 1). Results An overall reduction of the administered drug was seen at visit 4 in the TG [dose reduction of 22\% for infliximab (IFX) and an interval elongation of 28.7\% for IFX, 45.2\% for adalimumab, and 51.5\% for etanercept] without significant differences in the BASDAI between the groups at visit 4 (2.15 {\textpm} 1.55 in TG vs 2.11 {\textpm} 1.31 in CG, p = 0.883). The number of patients with flares was similar in both groups [22/74 (30\%) in the TG vs 8/43 (19\%) in the CG, p = 0.184]. Conclusion The tapering strategy in SpA results in an important reduction of the drug administered, and the disease control remains similar to that of the patients with SpA receiving the standard regimen.}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2015/07/10/jrheum.141128}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2015/07/10/jrheum.141128.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }