Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27669978›Full record

ArticleBMC musculoskeletal disorders2016

Patient's experience with subcutaneous and oral methotrexate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

J R Curtis, F Xie, D Mackey, N Gerber, A Bharat, T Beukelman, K G Saag, L Chen, B Nowell, S Ginsberg

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.6field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

J R CurtisUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA. jrcurtis@uabmc.edu.
F XieUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
D MackeyUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
N GerberGlobal Healthy Living Foundation, Upper Nyack, NY, 10960, USA.
A BharatUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
T BeukelmanUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
K G SaagUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
L ChenUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham, 510 20th Street South, FOT 802, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA.
B NowellGlobal Healthy Living Foundation, Upper Nyack, NY, 10960, USA.
S GinsbergGlobal Healthy Living Foundation, Upper Nyack, NY, 10960, USA.
University of Alabama at Birmingham · USGlobal Healthy Living Foundation · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDespite the prominent position of methotrexate (MTX) in Rheumatoid Arthiris (RA) therapeutics, its real-world effectiveness may be influenced by a relative lack of tolerability or other side effects that physicians may not be aware of but that are bothersome to patients. The aim of this study is to identify suboptimal patient experience with MTX and to raise awareness for clinicians to identify opportunities to mitigate bothersome symptoms and side effects and optimize response to MTX.

methodsWe conducted a prospective, cross-sectional, online survey among RA patients who were members of Creakyjoints, a large arthritis patient community. Eligible participants must have recently initiated a new biologic, subcutaneous (SQ) MTX, or oral MTX in the last 12 months and were uniquely assigned to one of these 3 groups. Descriptive statistics were used to compare patient-reported side effects and tolerability related to MTX use in the 3 medication groups (SQ MTX, oral MTX, and biologic).

resultsA total of 382 (85 %) of 448 eligible patients completed the survey and were grouped as: biologic (n = 218), SQ MTX (n = 49), and oral MTX (n = 115). Demographics were mean standard deviation (SD) age 48 (10) years, 92 % white, 91 % women. Symptoms significantly more prevalent in the SQ and oral MTX groups included diarrhea, fatigue, malaise, and hair loss. Injection related pain was lower with SQ MTX compared to SQ biologics. Out of a total of 8 potential symptoms and side effects examined, higher dose MTX (> = 20 mg/week) was associated with a 2.26 (1.25-4.09) greater likelihood of more side effects referent to < =10 mg/week.

conclusionResults from this real-world RA patient cohort suggest that MTX is accompanied by many patient-reported side effects and tolerability problems that may be under-recognized by physicians. These may impact both treatment satisfaction and medication adherence.

Indexed as

AdherenceMethotrexateRheumatoid arthritisSide effects

Identifiers

PMID27669978
PMCPMC5037591
OpenAlexW2526042914

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.