ArticleClinical rheumatology2026
Single high-dose intramuscular injection versus short-term low-dose oral glucocorticoids as bridging therapy in active rheumatoid arthritis: a retrospective cohort study on remission induction.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Bridging with a single glucocorticoid injection in psoriatic arthritis: Real-world evidence of short-term effectiveness, safety, and enhanced response in high-inflammatory burden patients.Therapeutic advances in musculoskeletal disease · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesDespite recommendations for short-term use, prolonged administration of low-dose glucocorticoids (GCs) remains common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), raising concerns about associated adverse effects. Compound betamethasone injection, a long-acting GC with rapid and sustained effects, may offer a single-administration alternative. This retrospective cohort study aims to evaluate its bridging efficacy and safety versus conventional oral regimen.
methodsWe retrospectively included 250 patients with active RA who received either a single intramuscular injection of compound betamethasone or oral prednisone, with a 24-month follow-up. Disease remission rate at the 3-month follow-up served as the primary outcome, assessed for non-inferiority (margin, - 20%). Secondary outcomes included disease activity, relapse, and adverse events. Multivariable regression and inverse probability weighting (IPW) were applied to balance baseline differences.
resultsExposed to significantly lower cumulative GC dose, the compound betamethasone injection group showed non-inferior remission at the 3-month follow-up, with risk differences (95% confidence intervals (CI)) of 0.1896 (0.0713 to 0.3052) and 0.2017 (0.0975 to 0.3059) for Index remission (multivariable regression and IPW-adjusted analysis, respectively) and 0.1984 (0.0751 to 0.3231) and 0.2062 (0.0894 to 0.3231) for Boolean remission. Consistently, non-inferiority appeared to be maintained during follow-up. Adjusted analysis suggested fewer relapses in the compound betamethasone injection group (p < 0.0001). GC-related infection and overall incidence of new-onset disorders were also reduced (multivariable regression and IPW-adjusted analysis, p < 0.05).
conclusionOverall, single intramuscular administration of compound betamethasone was associated with non-inferior short-term bridging efficacy, long-term disease stability, fewer relapses, and GC-related adverse events with reduced GC exposure, compared to oral prednisone. Key Points • A single intramuscular injection of compound betamethasone shows non-inferior short-term bridging efficacy to oral prednisone. • The compound betamethasone strategy confers long-term disease stability, likely through earlier and deeper remission. • Reduced cumulative glucocorticoid dose with single compound betamethasone injection limits glucocorticoid-related adverse events.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.