SynthesisAnnals of the rheumatic diseases2018
Impact of biological therapy on work outcomes in patients with axial spondyloarthritis: results from the British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register (BSRBR-AS) and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Annals of the rheumatic diseases, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- An Evaluation of Factors Contributing to Primary Nonresponse to Biological Therapy in Patients with Spondyloarthropathy: A Retrospective Cohort Study.Archives of rheumatology · 2026Article
- Work productivity and activity impairment in patients under 18 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA): the international UCAN CAN-DU prospective study.Arthritis research & therapy · 2026Article
- Societal and personal financial burden of severe asthma and impact of biologic therapy: a 19-year nationwide cost analysis.BMJ open respiratory research · 2026Article
- Impact of Biological Therapies on Quality of Life in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Narrative Review.Open access rheumatology : research and reviews · 2025Review
- Anti-interleukin-5/anti-interleukin-5 receptor α treatment improves self-reported work productivity in patients with severe eosinophilic asthma: a prospective cohort trial.ERJ open research · 2024Article
- Article
- Observational
- Impact of TNF inhibitor medication on working ability in axial spondyloarthritis: an observational national registry-based cohort study.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2023Article
- How do clinical and socioeconomic factors impact on work disability in early axial spondyloarthritis? Five-year data from the DESIR cohort.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Predictors of not Achieving Remission or Low Disease Activity in Axial Spondyloarthritis Patients from Middle Eastern Countries: A Prospective, Multicenter, Real-world Study.Oman medical journal · 2022Article
- Employment, Work Productivity, and Biologic Treatments in Self-Reported Axial Spondyloarthritis: a Cross-Sectional Study in a Female Predominant Population from the ArthritisPower Registry.Rheumatology and therapy · 2022Article
- The Association Between TNF Inhibitor Therapy Availability and Hospital Admission Rates for Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis. A Longitudinal Population-Based Study.Rheumatology and therapy · 2022Article
- Article
- Biologic use in psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis patients: a descriptive epidemiological study using linked, routine data in Wales, UK.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2021Article
- Predicting response to anti-TNFα therapy among patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA): results from BSRBR-AS.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2020Article
- Outcomes and treatment responses, including work productivity, among people with axial spondyloarthritis living in urban and rural areas: a mixed-methods study within a national register.Annals of the rheumatic diseases · 2020Article
- Work Disability in Axial Spondyloarthritis.Current rheumatology reports · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedCorrection:2023
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesTo quantify, among patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), the benefit on work outcomes associated with commencing biologic therapy.
methodsThe British Society for Rheumatology Biologics Register in Axial Spondyloarthritis (BSRBRAS) recruited patients meeting Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society criteria for axSpA naïve to biological therapy across 83 centres in Great Britain. Work outcomes (measured using the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Index) were compared between those starting biological therapy at the time of recruitment and those not. Differences between treatment groups were adjusted using propensity score matching. Results from BSRBR-AS were combined with other studies in a meta-analysis to calculate pooled estimates.
resultsOf the 577 participants in this analysis who were in employment, 27.9% were starting biological therapy at the time of recruitment. After propensity score adjustment, patients undergoing biological therapy, at 12-month follow-up, experienced significantly greater improvements (relative to non-biological therapy) in presenteeism (-9.4%, 95% CI -15.3% to -3.5%), overall work impairment (-13.9%, 95% CI -21.1% to -6.7%) and overall activity impairment (-19.2%, 95% CI -26.3% to -12.2%). There was no difference in absenteeism (-1.5%, 95% CI -8.0 to 4.9). Despite these improvements, impact on work was still greater in the biological treated cohort at follow-up. In the meta-analysis including 1109 subjects across observational studies and trials, treatment with biological therapy was associated with significantly greater improvements in presenteeism, work impairment and activity impairment, but there was no difference in absenteeism.
conclusionsThere is consistent evidence that treatment with biological therapy significantly improves work productivity and activity impairment in people with axSpA. However, there remain substantial unmet needs in relation to work.
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Registered trials
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.