Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21933396›Full record

ArticleArthritis research & therapy2011

Derivation and preliminary validation of an administrative claims-based algorithm for the effectiveness of medications for rheumatoid arthritis.

Jeffrey R Curtis, John W Baddley, Shuo Yang, Nivedita Patkar, Lang Chen, Elizabeth Delzell, Ted R Mikuls, Kenneth G Saag, Jasvinder Singh, Monika Safford and 1 more

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyValidation Study
In one paragraph

Article in Arthritis research & therapy, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed
10.4field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 72 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Data Challenges for Externally Controlled Trials: Viewpoint.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Jeffrey R CurtisDepartment of Medicine, University of Alabama, 510 20th Street South, FOT 805D, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. jcurtis@uab.edu
John W Baddley
Shuo Yang
Nivedita Patkar
Lang Chen
Elizabeth Delzell
Ted R Mikuls
Kenneth G Saag
Jasvinder Singh
Monika Safford
Grant W Cannon
University of Alabama · USBirmingham VA Medical Center · USGeorge E. Wahlen Department of VA Medical Center · USOmaha VA Medical Center · US

Funding

Deep South Musculoskeletal (DSM) CERTsU18HS016956 · AHRQ · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI SAAG, KENNETH G · 2007 to 2010
$3.7M
Longitudinal Comparative Effectiveness & Safety of Biologics in AutoimmunityR01HS018517 · AHRQ · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI CURTIS, JEFFREY R. · 2009 to 2013
$2.2M
Ethnic Differences in the Risk of Fracture and Vascular DiseaseK23AR053351 · NIAMS · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM · PI CURTIS, JEFFREY R. · 2007 to 2011
$755k
AHRQ HHS R01 HS018517AHRQ HHS U18 HS016956AHRQ HHS U18 HS106956NIAMS NIH HHS AR-053351NIAMS NIH HHS K23 AR053351
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAdministrative claims data have not commonly been used to study the clinical effectiveness of medications for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) because of the lack of a validated algorithm for this outcome. We created and tested a claims-based algorithm to serve as a proxy for the clinical effectiveness of RA medications.

methodsWe linked Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical and pharmacy claims for RA patients participating in the longitudinal Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) RA registry (VARA). Among individuals for whom treatment with a new biologic agent or nonbiologic disease-modifying agent in rheumatic disease (DMARD) was being initiated and with registry follow-up at 1 year, VARA and administrative data were used to create a gold standard for the claims-based effectiveness algorithm. The gold standard outcome was low disease activity (LDA) (Disease Activity Score using 28 joint counts (DAS28) ≤ 3.2) or improvement in DAS28 by > 1.2 units at 12 ± 2 months, with high adherence to therapy. The claims-based effectiveness algorithm incorporated biologic dose escalation or switching, addition of new disease-modifying agents, increase in oral glucocorticoid use and dose as well as parenteral glucocorticoid injections.

resultsAmong 1,397 patients, we identified 305 eligible biologic or DMARD treatment episodes in 269 unique individuals. The patients were primarily men (94%) with a mean (± SD) age of 62 ± 10 years. At 1 year, 27% of treatment episodes achieved the effectiveness gold standard. The performance characteristics of the effectiveness algorithm were as follows: positive predictive value, 76% (95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 71% to 81%); negative predictive value, 90% (95% CI = 88% to 92%); sensitivity, 72% (95% CI = 67% to 77%); and specificity, 91% (95% CI = 89% to 93%).

conclusionsAdministrative claims data may be useful in evaluating the effectiveness of medications for RA. Further validation of this effectiveness algorithm will be useful in assessing its generalizability and performance in other populations.

Indexed as

AlgorithmsAgedAntirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidCohort StudiesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansInsurance Claim ReviewLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedRegistriesTreatment OutcomeUnited StatesUnited States Department of Veterans AffairsAntirheumatic Agents

Identifiers

PMID21933396
PMCPMC3308085
OpenAlexW2116139481

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.