Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39313474›Full record

ArticleArthritis care & research2025

Assessing Methotrexate Adherence in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Using Electronic Health Record-Linked Pharmacy Dispensing Data.

Dori Abel, David Anderson, Michael J Kallan, Levon Utidjian, Jon M Burnham, Joyce C Chang, Chén C Kenyon, Sabrina Gmuca

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Arthritis care & research, 2025. 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
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

  1. Article
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

8 authors.

Dori AbelThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.ORCID 0000-0003-1120-6605
David AndersonThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Michael J KallanThe Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Levon UtidjianThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Jon M BurnhamThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.ORCID 0000-0002-9438-1072
Joyce C ChangThe Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
Chén C KenyonThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Sabrina GmucaThe Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.ORCID 0000-0003-3533-5698

Funding

Cardiovascular health assessment & outcomes of systemic lupus erythematosus: bridging pediatric and adult-onset diseaseK23HL148539 · NHLBI · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI CHANG, JOYCE CHUN-LING · 2020 to 2024
$973k
A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Resilience Coaching for Adolescents with Chronic Musculoskeletal PainK23AR081409 · NIAMS · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI SABRINA ANDREA GMUCA · 2022 to 2026
$955k
Incentive-based Mobile Health Adherence Intervention for High Risk Children with AsthmaK23HL136842 · NHLBI · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI KENYON, CHEN COLLIN · 2019 to 2023
$908k
AHRQ HHS T32 HS026116Children's Hospital of PhiladelphiaNHLBI NIH HHS K23 HL136842NHLBI NIH HHS K23 HL148539NIAMS NIH HHS K23 AR081409NIH HHS 5-T32-HS-026116NIH HHS K23-AR-081409NIH HHS K23-HL-136842NIH HHS K23-HL-148539
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe linked pharmacy dispensing data to clinical data in the electronic health record (EHR) to (1) identify characteristics associated with adherence to methotrexate (MTX) and (2) determine the association between adherence and disease activity in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).

methodsWe conducted a single-center retrospective cohort study of incident MTX recipients with JIA treated between January 2016 and September 2023 for ≥12 months. Using pharmacy dispensing data, complemented by EHR data, we estimated adherence using medication possession ratios (MPRs) over the first 365 days of treatment. We used Fisher's exact and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests to compare patient characteristics between adherent (MPR ≥80%) and nonadherent (MPR <80%) groups and multivariable linear regression to investigate associations between MPR and active joint count.

resultsAmong 224 patients, 81 (36.2%) were classified as nonadherent. In bivariate analysis, patients of younger age, of Black race, and from areas with lower child opportunity index were more likely to be classified as nonadherent. In multivariable analysis, active joint count changed from baseline to 12-month follow-up by -0.38 joints in the adherent compared to nonadherent group (95% confidence interval [CI] -0.74 to -0.01) and by -1.18 joints in patients with polyarticular course (95% CI -2.23 to -0.13).

conclusionLinking dispense data to clinical EHR data offers a novel, objective method for evaluating adherence to chronic medications. We identified demographic and area-level determinants of adherence, along with small but statistically significant differences in JIA disease activity measures by adherence status. Future work is needed to evaluate adherence as a potential mediator of known outcome disparities for socially disadvantaged populations.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, JuvenileElectronic Health RecordsMedication AdherenceMethotrexateAdolescentChildChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansMaleRetrospective StudiesAntirheumatic AgentsMethotrexate

Identifiers

PMID39313474
PMCPMC11848983

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

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.