Abstract
Objective To summarize patients’ preferences for disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) therapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods We conducted a systematic review to identify English-language studies in adult RA patients that measured patients’ preferences for DMARDs or health states and treatment outcomes relevant to DMARD decisions. Study quality was assessed using a published quality assessment tool. Data on the importance of treatment attributes and associations with patient characteristics was summarized across studies.
Results From 7951 abstracts, we included 36 studies from a variety of countries. Most studies were in patients with established RA and were rated as medium (n=19) or high quality (n=12). The methods to elicit preferences varied, with the most common being discrete choice experiment (DCE) (n=13). Despite the heterogeneity of attributes in DCE studies, treatment benefits (disease improvement) were usually more important than both non-serious (6 of 8 studies), and serious adverse events (5 of 8), and route of administration (7 of 9). Amongst the non-DCE studies, some found patients placed high importance on treatment benefits, while others (in patients with established RA) found patients were quite risk averse. Subcutaneous therapy was often, but not always preferred over intravenous therapy. Patient preferences were variable and commonly associated with sociodemographics.
Conclusion Overall, the results showed that many patients place a high value on treatment benefits over other treatment attributes including serious or minor side effects, cost or route of administration. The variability in patient preferences highlights the need to individualize treatment choices in RA.
