Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35737642›Full record

ArticlePloS one2022

Long-term outcomes after discontinuing biological drugs and tofacitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A prospective cohort study.

Shunsuke Mori, Akitomo Okada, Tomohiro Koga, Yukitaka Ueki

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 27% 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

1 citing paper in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
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

4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Shunsuke MoriDepartment of Rheumatology, Clinical Research Center for Rheumatic Diseases, National Hospital Organization Kumamoto Saishun Medical Center, Kohshi, Kumamoto, Japan.ORCID 0000-0001-7972-4252
Akitomo OkadaDepartment of Rheumatology, Japanese Red Cross Nagasaki Genbaku Hospital, Nagasaki, Japan.
Tomohiro KogaDivision of Advanced Preventive Medical Sciences, Department of Immunology and Rheumatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
Yukitaka UekiRheumatic and Collagen Disease Center, Sasebo Chuo Hospital, Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan.
Kumamoto Medical Center · JPNagasaki University · JPSasebo City General Hospital · JP

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study examined long-term outcomes of biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and tofacitinib discontinuation in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

methodsNinety-seven RA patients who desired drug discontinuation after sustained remission or low disease activity for at least 48 weeks due to stable treatment with biological drugs or tofacitinib were enrolled into this study. All patients were prospectively followed until disease flare or the end of the study. Discontinued drugs (previous drugs) were reintroduced to treat flares.

resultsFollowing bDMARD/tofacitinib discontinuation (mean follow-up, 2.1 years; standard deviation, 2.0), disease flare occurred at a crude incidence rate of 0.36 per person-year. The median time to flare was 1.6 years (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.9-2.6), and the cumulative flare probability was estimated to be 45% at 1 year, 64% at 3 years, and 80% at 5 years. No or little radiological progression was shown in 87.1% of patients who maintained remission for 3 years. A Fine‒Gray competing risk regression analysis showed that predictive factors for a flare were longer RA duration at the start of bDMARD/tofacitinib treatment, previous failure of treatment with bDMARDs, and a shorter period of remission or low disease activity before drug discontinuation. Type of discontinued drug was not identified as a predictive factor after adjusting for other predictor variables. Restarting previous treatment regimens led to rapidly regaining disease control in 89% of flare patients within 1 month.

conclusionDiscontinuation of bDMARD/tofacitinib may be a feasible strategy in RA patients, especially patients with early treated and longer-controlled RA. Flares are manageable in most RA patients and radiological progression is rare for at least 3 years in patients with sustained remission after bDMARD/tofacitinib discontinuation.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidBiological ProductsHumansPiperidinesProspective StudiesPyrimidinesSymptom Flare UpTreatment OutcomeAntirheumatic AgentsBiological ProductsPiperidinesPyrimidinestofacitinib

Identifiers

PMID35737642
PMCPMC9223309
OpenAlexW4283326274

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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.