RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Current tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitor use is associated with a higher probability of remissions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
JF The Journal of Rheumatology
JO J Rheumatol
FD The Journal of Rheumatology
SP 1662
OP 1665
VO 32
IS 9
A1 George C Liang
A1 Magaly Cordero
A1 Alan Dyer
A1 Rowland W Chang
YR 2005
UL http://www.jrheum.org/content/32/9/1662.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE: To determine if current tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibitor use is associated with a higher probability of remission than non-use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS: Clinical and demographic data were collected from 322 patients with RA during regularly scheduled clinic visits. Current and past medications were recorded. Disease activity status (remission or not) was determined using American College of Rheumatology preliminary criteria for clinical remission of RA. A logistic regression analysis was used to calculate crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) for remission for current TNF-alpha inhibitor users versus non-users. Multivariate analysis included age, gender, race, disease duration, use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID), prednisone dosage, and numbers of previously used disease modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD). RESULTS: Of the 111 patients enrolled in the study who were users of TNF-alpha inhibitors, 25.2% were found to be in clinical remission. Of the 211 patients who were non-users, 14.7% were in clinical remission. The unadjusted OR for remission in TNF-alpha inhibitor users was 1.96 (95% confidence interval, CI: 1.10 to 3.48). The adjusted OR was 2.74 (95% CI: 1.40 to 5.34). CONCLUSION: Cross-sectional observations from an outpatient arthritis clinic found a significantly higher remission rate in patients with RA taking a TNF-alpha inhibitor compared to non-users.