Real-world utilization of methotrexate or prednisone co-therapy with etanercept among Canadian patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective cohort study.

Real-world utilization of methotrexate or prednisone co-therapy with etanercept among Canadian patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A retrospective cohort study. Curr Med Res Opin. 2019 Jun 25;:1 Authors: Khraishi M, Ivanovic J, Zhang Y, Brad M, Brabant MJ, Woolcott J, Jones H, Curiale C Abstract Purpose: To evaluate whether initiation of etanercept therapy among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) impacts use of co-therapy with methotrexate or prednisone, and to describe etanercept dosing dynamics compared to product monograph in the Canadian real-world setting. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using claims-level data from IQVIA Private Drug Plan database, Ontario Public Drug Plan database, and Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec database. Bio-naïve RA patients initiating etanercept between 07/2014-06/2015, were identified and their claims for methotrexate or prednisone were analyzed. Utilization of methotrexate or prednisone was calculated as average weekly dose in mg, and compared in the 6-months pre versus 12-months post-initiation of etanercept. Weekly etanercept dosing of each patient was calculated and analyzed to determine if patients had at least 20% higher or lower average dose than monograph recommended dose (50mg/week), and were then flagged as above-monograph or below-monograph, respectively. Findings: 2,876 patients with RA (66% female, 76% aged between 18-65) were included; 62% (n = 1,14...
Source: Current Medical Research and Opinion - Category: Research Tags: Curr Med Res Opin Source Type: research