RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the survival of different biologic or targeted-synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARD) administered after fulfilling difficult-to-treat rheumatoid arthritis (D2TRA) criteria, and to assess factors related to treatment discontinuation. METHODS: Retrospective study including D2TRA patients. Drug retention of the b/tsDMARD administered after fulfilling D2TRA was assessed by Kaplan-Meier plots and the log-rank test. Cox hazard models were used to identify factors affecting treatment discontinuation. RESULTS: Of the 122 patients included, 75 maintained active treatment (61.5%) with a subsequent line after D2T compared to 47 (38.5%) who discontinued and required more successive lines of b/tsDMARDs. The median survival of the treatments was 78.3(7.6) months and the treatment after D2T with the better rate of survival was rituximab, followed by JAKi and IL6Ri, while worse survival rates were associated with abatacept and TNFi. Significant differences were noted among b/tsDMARDs (log-rank p < 0.01) and to evaluate these differences, a Cox regression was performed, taking each b/tsDMARD as a reference and comparing it with the others. DAS28 values 6-months after initiation of treatment were higher in those patients who discontinued treatment [4.4(1.2) vs 3.5(1.3), p = 0.01]. The multivariate cox regression model revealed that treatment choice after D2T [HR = 1.26(95%CI 1.06-1.05)] and lower DAS28 values at 6 months [HR = 1.49(95%CI 1.16-1.52)] were independent risk factors associated with treatment discontinuation. CONCLUSIONS: Once patients met the D2TRA criteria, the subsequent line of b/tsDMARDs with the best survival rates were rituximab, JAKi and IL6Ri. Moreover, DAS28 at 6-months of treatment after D2T was an independent risk factor for drug discontinuation. Key Points ⢠Rituximab, IL6Ri and JAKi have better retention rates in patients after fulfilling D2TRA criteria ⢠Clinical disease activity in the first six months after fulfillment of D2TRA criteria is an independent risk factor of subsequent treatment survival.
RESUMO
Mobile health technology holds great promise for the clinical management of patients with chronic disease. However, evidence on the implementation of projects involving digital health solutions in rheumatology is scarce. We aimed to study the feasibility of a hybrid (virtual and face-to-face) monitoring strategy for personalized care in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA). This project included the development of a remote monitoring model and its assessment. After a focus group with patients and rheumatologists, relevant concerns regarding the management of RA and SpA were raised, leading to the development of the Mixed Attention Model (MAM), which combined hybrid (virtual and face-to-face) monitoring. Then, a prospective study using the mobile solution Adhera for Rheumatology was conducted. Over a 3-month follow-up period, patients were given the opportunity to complete disease-specific electronic patient reported outcomes (ePROs) for RA and SpA with a pre-established frequency, as well as flares and changes in medication at any time. Number of interactions and alerts were assessed. The usability of the mobile solution was measured by the Net-Promoter Score (NPS) and through a 5-star Likert scale. Following the MAM development, forty-six patients were recruited to utilize the mobile solution, of whom 22 had RA and 24 SpA. There were 4,019 total interactions in the RA group, and 3,160 in the SpA group. Fifteen patients generated a total of 26 alerts, of which 24 were flares and 2 were medication-related problems; most (69%) were managed remotely. Regarding patient satisfaction, 65% of the respondents were considered to have endorsed Adhera for Rheumatology, yielding a NPS of 57 and an overall rating was 4.3 out of 5 stars. We concluded that the use of the digital health solution is feasible in clinical practice to monitor ePROs for RA and SpA. Next steps involve the implementation of this telemonitoring method in a multicentric setting.