Rheumatology

Launois R, Le Moine JG, Huynh MT. Mixed treatment comparison, cost-effectiveness and budget impact analysis in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis after failure of DMARD therapy: a comprehensive decision analytical modelling. Poster presented at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcome Research 17th Annual International Meeting; June 2, 2012. Washington, DC.

Abstract not available at this time

Wu JJ, Rowan CG, Bebchuk JD, Anthony MS. No association between TNF inhibitor and methotrexate therapy versus methotrexate in changes in hemoglobin A1C and fasting glucose among psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis patients. J Drugs Dermatol. 2015 Feb;14(2):159-66.

BACKGROUND: The use of tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi) has been associated with a reduced incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To compare changes in hemoglobin A1C and fasting glucose for patients exposed to TNFi.

METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, patients with at least 3 recorded diagnosis codes for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis between January 1, 2004 and July 31, 2011.

Wu JJ, Rowan CG, Bebchuk JD, Anthony MS. Association between tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) therapy and changes in C-reactive protein (CRP), blood pressure, and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) among patients with psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Letter to the editor. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2015 May;72(5):917-9.

Abstract not available at this time.

DiBenedetti DB, Zhou X, Reynolds M, Ogale S, Best JH. Assessing methotrexate adherence in rheumatoid arthritis: a cross-sectional survey. Rheum Ther. 2015 May 13;2(1):73-84. doi: 10.1007/s40744-015-0011-1

Introduction: Limited data are available to explain nonadherence to methotrexate (MTX) therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Better understanding of patterns of MTX use and reasons for nonadherence may help identify patients who would benefit from alternative RA treatments and potentially aid in developing strategies to increase overall adherence. The purpose of this study was to assess patients’ self-reported adherence to MTX and to identify reasons for nonadherence.

Hirsch JD, Gnanasakthy A, Lale R, Choi K, Sarkin AJ. Efficacy of canakinumab vs. triamcinolone acetonide according to multiple gouty arthritis-related health outcomes measures. Int J Clin Pract. 2014 Dec;68(12):1503-7. doi: 10.1111/ijcp.12521

Aim: Canakinumab (CAN), a selective, fully human, anti-IL-1ß monoclonal antibody, has demonstrated long-term benefits in gouty arthritis (GA) patients, who have contraindications for, or are unresponsive or intolerant of, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or colchicine (two trials:ß-RELIEVED [n = 228]; ß-RELIEVED II [n = 226]). The trials collected different responses, including patient-reported outcomes (PRO). A composite response end-point (CRE) was used to interpret each patient's overall response to treatment.

Whalley D, McKenna SP, de Jong Z, van der Heijde D. Quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis. Br J Rheumatol. 1997;36(8):884-8.

Patient-completed health status instruments currently available for use with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients lack adequate reliability and responsiveness, making them unsuitable for use as outcome measures in clinical trials. A search of the literature failed to identify a quality of life (QoL) instrument specific to RA. The present study was designed to be the first stage in the development of such a measure. Qualitative interviews were held with 50 RA patients, 25 in the UK and 25 in The Netherlands.

de Jong Z, van der Heijde D, McKenna SP, Whalley D. The reliability and construct validity of the RAQoL: a rheumatoid arthritis-specific quality of life instrument. Br J Rheumatol. 1997;36(8):878-83.

The present study was designed to test the psychometric properties of the RAQoL, a rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-specific quality of life (QoL) instrument. All stages of the development were conducted simultaneously in The Netherlands and the UK. The content of the draft measure was derived from qualitative interviews with RA patients in both countries. The final version of the RAQoL has 30 items with a 'yes'/'no' response format and takes approximately 6 min to complete.

Primatesta P, Plana Hortoneda E, Rothenbacher D. Gout treatment and comorbidities: a retrospective cohort study in a large US managed care population. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011 May 20;12:103. doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-12-103

BACKGROUND: Gout prevalence increased in recent years to become one of the most common causes of inflammatory arthritis in most industrialised countries. Comorbidities may affect the disease severity and treatment patterns. We describe the main characteristics of gout patients, gout-related treatment patterns and prevalent comorbidities in a managed care population.

Lewis S, Price M, Dwyer KA, O'Brien S, Heekin RD, Yates PJ, Beverland D, Mordin M. Development of a scale to assess performance following primary total knee arthroplasty. Value Health. 2014 Apr 21;17(4):350-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2014.01.006

BACKGROUND: Quantitative assessment of postsurgical knee motion provides sensitive measurements, but results are technical and may not be meaningful to patients. Although several knee-specific instruments exist, no patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure correlates function with improved stability, motion, satisfaction, and confidence.

OBJECTIVE: To address both the above limitations by developing a PRO measure to assess the phenomenon of a "normal" knee after primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Cannuscio CC, Genovese M, DeMuro-Mercon CJ, Cai B, Holmes R, Gottesdiener KM. Markers of cardiovascular risk in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). Poster presented at the 67th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology; 2003.