Association between anti-TNF-α therapy and all-cause mortality.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To compare mortality among patients with selected autoimmune diseases treated with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) agents with similar patients treated with non-biologic therapies.

Methods

Cohort study set within several large health care programs, 1998-2007. Autoimmune disease patients were identified using diagnoses from computerized healthcare data. Use of anti-TNF-α agents and comparison of non-biologic therapies were identified from pharmacy data, and mortality was identified from vital records and other sources. We compared new users of anti-TNF-α agents to new users of non-biologic therapies using propensity scores and Cox proportional hazards analysis to adjust for baseline differences. We also made head-to-head comparisons among anti-TNF-α agents.

SUBMITTER: Herrinton LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3565563 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature