Heterogeneity in Comparisons of Discontinuation of Tumor Necrosis Factor Antagonists in Rheumatoid Arthritis - A Meta-Analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We did a systematic review of studies comparing discontinuation of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) antagonists in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, pooled hazard ratios and assessed clinical and methodological heterogeneity.

Methods

We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE until June 2015 for pairwise hazard ratios for discontinuing infliximab, etanercept, and adalimumab from cohorts of RA patients. Hazard ratios were pooled using inverse variance weighting and random effects estimates of the combined hazard ratio were obtained. Clinical and methodological heterogeneity was assessed using the between-subgroup I-square statistics and meta-regression.

Results

Twenty-four unique studies were eligible and large heterogeneity (I-square statistics > 50%) was observed in

SUBMITTER: Fisher A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5145210 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature