Key characteristics of published studies included after the screening process.
| Study Characteristics | Included Publications, n (%), N = 170 |
|---|---|
| Geographic region | |
| Asia | 27 (16) |
| Australia | 2 (1) |
| Europe | 99 (58) |
| North America | 37 (22) |
| South America | 5 (3) |
| Study design | |
| Registry | 58 (34) |
| Local registry | 4 (2) |
| Retrospective cohort | 33 (19) |
| Prospective cohort | 30 (18) |
| Prospective and retrospective cohort | 1 (1) |
| Cohort (design not reported) | 3 (2) |
| Claims database | 25 (15) |
| Chart review | 7 (4) |
| Clinical records | 6 (4) |
| Not reported | 3 (2) |
| Biologic DMARD intervention | |
| Adalimumab | 111 (65) |
| Certolizumab pegol | 18 (11) |
| Etanercept | 118 (69) |
| Golimumab | 37 (22) |
| Infliximab | 118 (69) |
| Biologic DMARD treatment line* | |
| 1st only | 88 (52) |
| 1st or later line** | 9 (5) |
| 2nd only | 26 (15) |
| 2nd and 3rd | 3 (2) |
| 2nd or later line† | 5 (3) |
| 3rd only | 2 (1) |
| 3rd or later line† | 2 (1) |
| 4th, 5th, and 6th | 1 (<1) |
| Continuing† | 1 (<1) |
| Mixed lines | 27 (16) |
| Not specified‡ | 51 (30) |
| Endpoints of interest reported | |
| Drug survival | 119 (70) |
| Discontinuation | 134 (79) |
| Antidrug antibodies | 12 (7) |
| Economic evaluation | 20 (12) |
↵* Total no. publications sums to > 170 and percentages do not sum to 100% because some publications report data for > 1 biologic treatment line and are counted twice.
↵** Publications in which data are reported as 1st–2nd, 1st–3rd, or 1st–4th line.
↵† The number of subsequent treatment lines was not reported in some publications.
↵‡ Three publications reported a treatment line, the number of which was not specified, followed by a subsequent line (not specified + 1). DMARD: disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.