Evidence map›Paper›PMID 28790807›Full record

ArticlePatient preference and adherence2017

Non-persistence and non-adherence to MTX therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study based on German RA patients.

Sabrina Müller, Thomas Wilke, Andreas Fuchs, Ulf Maywald, Jan-Paul Flacke, Harald Heinisch, Klaus Krüger

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Patient preference and adherence, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 33% 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

6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Real-world therapy and persistence of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy or diabetic macular edema: a German claims data analysis.Graefe's archive for clinical and experimental ophthalmology = Albrecht von Graefes Archiv fur klinische und experimentelle Ophthalmologie · 2025
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
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

7 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.

Sabrina MüllerInstitute for Pharmacoeconomics and Medication Logistics, University of Wismar, Wismar.
Thomas WilkeInstitute for Pharmacoeconomics and Medication Logistics, University of Wismar, Wismar.
Andreas FuchsAOK PLUS, Dresden.
Ulf MaywaldAOK PLUS, Dresden.
Jan-Paul FlackeRoche Pharma AG, Grenzach-Wyhlen.
Harald HeinischChugai Pharma Europe Ltd, Frankfurt/M.
Klaus KrügerPraxiszentrum St Bonifatius, Munich, Germany.
Wismar University of Applied Sciences · DEChugai Pharma (United States) · USRoche (Switzerland) · CHSt. Bonifatius Hospital · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study aimed to assess the level of nonpersistence (NP) and nonadherence (NA) to methotrexate (MTX) therapy in German patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). MATERIALS AND

methodsBased on German claims data, RA patients who received a MTX therapy (subgroup: treatment-naive patients) were analyzed. NP was defined as treatment gap >12 weeks. Regarding NA, it is the overall medication possession ratio (MPR) during an observational period of 12 or 24 months after therapy, and the MPR is calculated only for the periods of therapy continuation; NA was defined as MPR <80%.

resultsA total of 7,146 RA patients who received at least one MTX prescription (subgroup: 1,211 treatment-naive patients) could be observed (mean age: 64.4 years, 73.6% female). Percentage of NP patients among MTX-naive patients after 6, 12 and 18 months was 16.7%, 34.0% and 36.7%, respectively. After MTX therapy discontinuation, 39.9% had restarted their MTX therapy, 13.8% had received another non-MTX synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (sDMARD), 8.1% had biological DMARD (bDMARD) and 49.2% had not received any DMARD prescription at all. Overall, 12- and 24-month MPRs for MTX therapy were 83.0% and 76.5% with a percentage of NA patients of 25.8% and 33.8%, respectively. During periods of general treatment continuation, the percentage of patients with an MPR <80% was 6.5%.

conclusionNP to MTX treatment seems to be common in one-fourth of German patients with RA. An additional number of patients, at least 6.5%, are also affected by NA. A considerable percentage of RA patients who discontinued MTX therapy do not receive any follow-up DMARD therapy.

Indexed as

adherence to MTX therapydiscontinuation of MTX therapyMTX therapypersistence with MTX therapyRArheumatoid arthritis

Identifiers

PMID28790807
PMCPMC5530851
OpenAlexW2737590428

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.