Table 4.
Cox proportional hazard analysis for the risk factors of treatment discontinuation due to toxic adverse events
| Variable | HR (95% CI) | ||||
| Total | TNFi | aIL-6R | CTLA4-Ig | JAKi | |
| Concomitant oral GCs use (%) | 1.27 (1.11 to 1.45)*** | 1.29 (1.07 to 1.55)** | 1.08 (0.83 to 1.41) | 1.34 (0.94 to 1.91) | 2.30 (1.23 to 4.28)** |
| Age (years) | 1.01 (1.00 to 1.02)*** | 1.01 (1.01 to 1.02)*** | 1.01 (1.00 to 1.02)* | 1.01 (0.99 to 1.02) | 1.04 (1.01 to 1.07)** |
| Current CTLA4-Ig treatment (vs TNFi) | 0.78 (0.64 to 0.93)* | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
| CDAI | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.01) | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.02) | 1.00 (0.98 to 1.01) | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.02) | 1.03 (1.00 to 1.06) |
| Disease duration (years) | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.01) | 0.99 (0.98 to 1.00)* | 1.02 (1.00 to 1.03)* | 1.00 (0.98 to 1.02) | 0.99 (0.97 to 1.02) |
| Prior CTLA4-Ig use (%) | 1.26 (0.97 to 1.63) | 1.20 (0.78 to 1.84) | 1.54 (0.99 to 2.42) | 1.19 (0.52 to 2.75) | 1.10 (0.53 to 2.29) |
| Sex (male) | 1.14 (0.97 to 1.35) | 1.01 (0.81 to 1.27) | 1.15 (0.82 to 1.61) | 1.86 (1.27 to 2.72)** | 0.76 (0.35 to 1.66) |
| Prior JAKi use (%) | 1.39 (0.91 to 2.13) | 1.71 (0.88 to 3.34) | 2.04 (0.96 to 4.31) | 1.14 (0.27 to 4.79) | 0.76 (0.28 to 2.05) |
| Current JAKi treatment (vs TNFi) | 0.88 (0.65 to 1.20) | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
| Concomitant other csDMARDs use (%) | 1.04 (0.90 to 1.22) | 0.95 (0.76 to 1.19) | 1.17 (0.88 to 1.56) | 1.14 (0.80 to 1.62) | 0.98 (0.53 to 1.82) |
| Prior TNFi use (%) | 0.95 (0.72 to 1.25) | 0.85 (0.55 to 1.31) | 1.19 (0.72 to 1.96) | 1.23 (0.57 to 2.67) | 0.86 (0.35 to 2.15) |
| Prior aIL-6R use (%) | 1.04 (0.80 to 1.35) | 1.31 (0.85 to 2.01) | 0.83 (0.51 to 1.35) | 1.18 (0.58 to 2.39) | 0.56 (0.26 to 1.18) |
| Current aIL-6R treatment (vs TNFi) | 0.99 (0.85 to 1.17) | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. | N.A. |
| Switched number of bDMARDs or JAKi (naïve, second, ≥third) | 1.02 (0.83 to 1.27) | 0.98 (0.68 to 1.41) | 0.89 (0.61 to 1.28) | 1.01 (0.55 to 1.87) | 1.43 (0.71 to 2.86) |
| Concomitant MTX use (%) | 1.03 (0.90 to 1.17) | 1.05 (0.87 to 1.26) | 0.95 (0.73 to 1.25) | 1.00 (0.71 to 1.40) | 1.45 (0.77 to 2.73) |
*p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
aIL-6R, anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibodies; bDMARDs, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; CDAI, Clinical Disease Activity Index; csDMARDs, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; CTLA4-Ig, cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4-Ig; GCs, glucocorticoids; JAKi, Janus kinase inhibitors; MTX, methotrexate; N.A., not applicable; TNFi, tumour necrosis factor inhibitors.