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Cheaper antirheumatic drugs effectively treated RA in Nordic populations
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Both expensive and less-expensive antirheumatic drugs were effective therapies for targeting remission or low disease activity for Nordic patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to study results.
Researchers studied clinical data of all patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seen in 2010 at two outpatient rheumatology clinics at a Norwegian (n=1,140; mean age, 61 years; 69% women) and a Finnish hospital (n=1,240; mean age, 60 years; 71% women. Patient demographics, clinical characteristics, disease activity, functional status and treatments were measured. Assuming that a patient took medication for 1 year, the annual prescription costs to society were calculated per 100 patients.
Mean disease duration (Norway, 9.6 years; Finland, 11.3 years), prevalence of rheumatoid factor and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies were similar for the patient groups. Patients had a Disease Activity Score 28 of 3.1 in Norway and 2.6 in Finland. Patients’ functional status was “well reserved,” the researchers reported.
Thirty-three percent of the Norwegian group and 17% of Finnish patients were treated with biologic agents. Less than 1% of Norwegian patients used a combination of conventional antirheumatic drugs compared with 37% of Finnish patients. Estimated annual medication costs per 100 patients were nearly double among Norwegian patients (€507,889) than patients in Finland (€279,796).
“A concern has been raised that Finnish patients may represent a milder disease than Norwegians,” the researchers reported, however, “ … these data indicated similar initial disease activity between the clinics.
“Similar clinical outcomes can be reached using expensive and less-expensive antirheumatic drugs, which may be recognized in future recommendations and guidelines for the treatment of RA. Routine clinical monitoring of all patients may be used as a tool to reach favorable outcomes in RA patients.”
Disclosure: See the study for a full list of relevant disclosures.
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