Rheumatoid Arthritis News

A high multibiomarker disease activity — or MBDA — test score is associated with biologic and JAK inhibitor treatment addition or switching among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to data published in the Journal of Rheumatology.

Persistent opioid use among patients with rheumatoid arthritis doubled from 2002 to 2015, with pain and antidepressant treatment being the strongest predictors of taking opioids, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Study findings published in Health Psychology indicated that anxiety and depression symptoms predicted greater incidence of nearly all medical illnesses and somatic symptoms.

CHICAGO – Treatment with tofacitinib results in a numerically higher, but not statistically significant, risk for venous thromboembolism versus tumor necrosis factor inhibitors among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, according to findings presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

Researchers found that subclinical myocardial inflammation occurs frequently in rheumatoid arthritis, is associated with disease activity and could potentially be alleviated with rheumatoid arthritis treatment, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Adjusted treatment retention rates after 1 year were lower among patients who switched from etanercept to a biosimilar compared with the historic originator cohort, but nonetheless higher than those who did not switch, according to data published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Shared decision-making between rheumatologists and patients with rheumatoid arthritis can be negatively impacted by third-party insurance providers if coverage is uncertain or insufficient, and physicians should aim to include treatment costs and ability to pay in their deliberations at point-of-care, according to data published in Arthritis Care & Research.

CHICAGO – Risk for seropositive rheumatoid arthritis among women declined substantially after smoking cessation, although increased risk for the disease persisted for up to 30 years after cessation, according to findings from a large prospective study presented at the ACR/ARHP 2018 Annual Meeting.

The FDA has approved ACTPen, a single-dose prefilled autoinjector of tocilizumab, for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis who failed to respond to one or more disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, and for adult patients with giant cell arteritis, according to a company press release.

CHICAGO – Filgotinib improved the signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis among previously treated patients with highly active disease, according to findings presented at the ACR Annual Meeting.