Frailty tied to Adverse Events in RA Patients on Biologic and Targeted Synthetic DMARDs, finds study
It remains unknown whether frailty status portends an increased risk of adverse outcomes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) initiating biologic (b) or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs).
In an Original Article published in Arthritis Care & Research, Singh et al. and colleagues concluded that Patients with a history of rheumatoid arthritis who are treated with biologic (b) or targeted synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (tsDMARDs) have an increased risk of adverse outcomes, with Frailty being a significant predictor.
Whether frailty status increases the risk of adverse outcomes in RA patients starting bDMARDs or tsDMARDs remains unclear.
The researchers used MarketScan data to identify new users of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), non-TNFi, bDMARDs, or Janus Kinase inhibitors (JAKi) for RA between 2008 and 2019. Patients' baseline frailty risk scores were calculated using a Claims-Based Frailty Index, and frailty status was defined as ≥0.2. The primary outcome was time to severe infection, with secondary outcomes including time-to-any infection and all-cause hospitalizations. Cox proportional hazards were used to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), and the significance of interaction terms between frailty status and drug class was assessed.
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