Characterization of Patients with Arthritis Referred for Gold Therapy in the Era of Biologics

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Demographic and disease characteristics of patients referred for gold treatment.

Characteristic	No. (%)
Gender, n = 81
Female	69 (85)
Male	12 (15)
Age, yrs, n = 71
≤ 30	3 (4)
31–50	21 (30)
51–70	35 (49)
> 70	12 (17)
Diagnosis, n = 81
Rheumatoid arthritis	71 (88)
Psoriatic arthritis	5 (6)
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis	2 (2)
Undifferentiated polyarthritis	1 (1)
Sjögren’s syndrome	1 (1)
Spondyloarthritis	1 (1)
Disease duration, yrs, n = 71^*
< 2	19 (27)
2–5	19 (27)
6–10	7 (10)
11–20	19 (27)
> 20	7 (10)
Rheumatoid factor, n = 81
Positive	63 (78)
Negative	13 (16)
Unknown	5 (6)

↵* Counts and percentages based on available data. Ten patients never started gold and thus disease duration and age at time of admission to clinic were not applicable.

Table 2.

Duration of gold treatment and concomitant disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) received during gold treatment.

Drug Treatment	No. (%)
Gold duration (mo) at last visit in 2009, n = 71^*
≥ 5	25 (35)
6 to 10	14 (20)
11 to 20	22 (31)
≥ 20	10 (14)
Concomitant DMARD, n = 71^*
None	12 (17)
1 DMARD	36 (51)
2 DMARD	18 (25)
3 DMARD	2 (3)
1 biologic	1 (1)
≥ 1 DMARD + biologic	2 (2)
Concomitant gold/DMARD combinations, n = 71^*
Gold alone	12 (17)
Gold + MTX	11 (15)
Gold + HCQ	20 (28)
Gold + SSZ	3 (4)
Gold + CyA	2 (3)
Gold + anti-TNF	1 (1)
Gold + MTX + HCQ	12 (17)
Gold + MTX + SSZ	2 (3)
Gold + MTX + LEF	1 (1)
Gold + MTX + anti-TNF	2 (3)
Gold + HCQ + SSZ	3 (4)
Gold + MTX + chloroquine + LEF	1 (1)
Gold + MTX + HCQ + SSZ	1 (1)

↵* Counts and percentages based on available data. Ten patients never started gold and thus disease duration and age at time of admission to clinic were not applicable. MTX: methotrexate; HCQ: hydroxychloroquine; SSZ: sulfasalazine; CyA: cyclosporin A; anti-TNF: anti-tumor necrosis factor (includes etanercept, adalimumab, and/or infliximab); LEF: leflunomide.

Table 3.

Reasons for referral to gold clinic (n = 81)

Category	No. (%)
1. Failure of regular DMARD	54 (67)
2. DMARD options limited due to:	50 (62)
Liver disease	34 (42)
Sulfa allergy	7 (9)
High alcohol consumption	5 (6)
Planned pregnancy	4 (5)
3. Failure of biologics	3 (4)
4. Inappropriate for biologics	7 (9)
5. Previous benefit on gold	10 (12)
6. Benefit from clinic support and monitoring	10 (12)
7. Patient choice	4 (5)
8. Physician choice	12 (15)