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The effectiveness and retention rates of methotrexate in psoriatic arthritis with methotrexate treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis as a reference population
Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, 09/22/09

Lie E et al. – MTX treatment was associated with improvement of disease activity and health related quality of life in PsA patients after 6 months of therapy. Retention rates of MTX were similar in PsA and RA

Methods

Data on 430 PsA patients participating in an ongoing longitudinal observational multicenter study
1218 MTX naïve rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from the same study served as a reference population
Assessments included measures of disease activity (28-joint counts, acute phase reactants), health status and utility scores
6-month effectiveness data were compared both by crude analyses and with adjustments for age, sex and the respective baseline values

Results

After 6 months of MTX treatment, both PsA and RA patients improved in most disease activity measures and patient reported outcomes
In the adjusted analysis PsA patients tended to have less improvement, but changes were in the same range as in RA patients
Two-year retention rates of MTX therapy in PsA and RA patients were 65% and 66%, respectively, with only minor differences in reported reasons for discontinuation
Lower age, longer disease duration, and higher MHAQ score and patient global assessment were independent predictors of MTX termination within the first two years of treatment

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