Patient characteristics and medication use of patients starting biologic treatment in the years 2015 and 2017.
| Before Introduction of Biosimilar, n = 59 | After Introduction of Biosimilar, n = 67 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | N | |||
| Baseline characteristics | ||||
| Mean (SD) age at biologic initiation, yrs | 52 (14) | 59 | 58 (14) | 67 |
| Mean (SD) disease duration at biologic initiation, yrs | 4 (6) | 59 | 4 (6) | 67 |
| Female sex, % | 74.6 | 44 | 70.1 | 47 |
| RF positive, % | 42.3 | 22/52 | 56.4 | 22/39 |
| Anti-CCP positive, % | 51.9 | 27/52 | 55.6 | 25/45 |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 27.0 (7) | 40 | 27.8 (7) | 35 |
| DAS28 at biologic initiation, mean (SD) | 4.7 (1.3) | 38 | 4.5 (1.2) | 42 |
| Medication use prior to initiation of first bDMARD | ||||
| No. csDMARDs used, mean (SD) | 2.1 (0.7) | 57 | 2.1 (0.7) | 60 |
| Patients with GC treatment in last year, % | 73 | 43 | 73 | 49 |
| No. prednisone prescriptions in last year, mean (SD) | 2.7 (2.5) | 59 | 2.6 (2.6) | 67 |
| Medication use during initiation of first bDMARD | ||||
| Distribution of bDMARD utilization at initiation of first bDMARD | ||||
| Abatacept | – | – | 2 | 1 |
| Adalimumab | 53 | 31 | 42 | 28 |
| Etanercept | 36 | 21 | 46 | 31 |
| Certolizumab | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| Golimumab | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Infliximab | 2 | 1 | – | – |
| Rituximab | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Tocilizumab | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| No. csDMARD at biologic initiation (co-medication) | ||||
| 0 | 14 | 8 | 27 | 18 |
| 1 | 44 | 26 | 37 | 25 |
| 2 | 42 | 25 | 35 | 24 |
| Patients using MTX at biologic initiation, % | 68 | 40 | 54 | 36 |
Anti-CCP: anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; bDMARD: biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; csDMARD: conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; DAS28: Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; GC: glucocorticoid; MTX: methotrexate; RF: rheumatoid factor.