Predictors of stopping and starting disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) are the standard of care for rheumatoid arthritis (RA); however, studies have found that many patients do not receive them. We examined predictors of starting and stopping DMARDs among a longitudinal cohort of patients with RA.

Methods

Study participants came from a cohort of RA patients recruited from a random sample of rheumatologists' practices in Northern California. We examined patterns and predictors of stopping and starting nonbiologic and biologic DMARDs during 1982-2009 based on annual questionnaires. Stopping was defined as stopping all DMARDs and starting was defined as transitioning from no DMARDs to any DMARDs across 2 consecutive years.

Results

The analysis of starting DMARDs included 471 subjects

SUBMITTER: Solomon DH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4112169 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature