Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38123483›Full record

Observational studyRMD open2023

Comorbidities and chance of remission in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis receiving methotrexate as first-line therapy: a Swedish observational nationwide study.

Liselotte Tidblad, Helga Westerlind, Bénédicte Delcoigne, Johan Askling, Saedis Saevarsdottir

Open access · goldAbstract readObservational Study
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in RMD open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.2field-weighted citation impact, top 18% 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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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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

5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Liselotte TidbladClinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden liselotte.tidblad@ki.se.ORCID 0000-0002-9266-6349
Helga WesterlindClinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-3380-5342
Bénédicte DelcoigneClinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0002-2716-5679
Johan AsklingClinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0003-0433-0616
Saedis SaevarsdottirClinical Epidemiology Division, Department of Medicine, Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Karolinska Institutet · SEUniversity of Iceland · IS

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study aims to examine whether comorbidities affect the likelihood of reaching primary remission on methotrexate monotherapy as the first disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) in early rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

methodsWe used nationwide Swedish clinical and quality registers to collect RA disease activity measures and comorbidity data for patients diagnosed with RA 2007-2020 (n=11 001). The primary outcome was failure to reach 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) remission at 3 months. Secondary outcomes included Boolean, Simplified Disease Activity Index/Clinical Disease Activity Index remission, European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology response and no swollen joint count at 3 and 6 months. For each comorbidity, and for combinations thereof, we calculated adjusted relative risks (RRs) of failure to reach remission, using modified Poisson regression.

resultsIn total, 53% (n=4019/7643) failed to reach DAS28 remission after 3 months of methotrexate monotherapy, ranging from 66% (n=25/38) among patients with chronic kidney disease to 48% (n=154/319) in patients with previous cancer. The risk of not reaching DAS28 remission at 3 months (RR adjusted for sex and age) was increased among patients with endocrine (RR 1.08, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.15), gastrointestinal (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.30), infectious (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.38), psychiatric (RR 1.24, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.35) and respiratory comorbidities (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.32). Having three or more comorbidity categories was associated with a 27% higher risk of DAS28 remission failure at 3 months. A similar pattern was observed for the secondary outcomes.

conclusionsComorbidities decrease the chance of reaching remission on methotrexate as DMARD monotherapy in patients with early RA and are important to consider when assessing treatment outcomes.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidComorbidityDrug Therapy, CombinationHumansMethotrexateSwedenAntirheumatic AgentsMethotrexateArthritis, RheumatoidEpidemiologyMethotrexateOutcome Assessment, Health Care

Identifiers

PMID38123483
OpenAlexW4390024045

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.