Table 5.
Patients with RA initiating rituximab
| Country | Sweden | Denmark | Norway | ||||
| Source cohort | EIRA | SRQ | SRQ biobank | DANBIO | DRB | NOR-DMARD | ULRABIT |
| N patients | 432 | 5232 | 942 | 1462 | 346 | 411 | 43 |
| Characteristics at treatment start | |||||||
| N women (%) | 338 (78%) | 3969 (76%) | 713 (76%) | 1134 (78%) | 276 (80%) | 315 (77%) | 35 (81%) |
| Median age at baseline (IQR) | 61 (51–68) | 63 (53–71) | 62 (52–70) | 62 (54–70) | 59 (50–66) | 57 (48–65) | 57 (53–62) |
| Median calendar year of baseline (IQR) | 2014 (2010–2017) | 2013 (2010–2016) | 2014 (2012–2017) | 2013 (2010–2017) | 2015 (2011–2018) | 2011 (2008–2014) | 2011 (2010–2012) |
| Median disease duration (IQR) | 6 (3–11)* | 5 (2–9)* | 6 (2–11)* | 10 (4–18) | 10 (5–17) | 10 (5–19) | 10 (4–17) |
| Seropositive disease† (%) | 372 (87%) | 4467 (88%) | 794 (86%) | 1197 (86%) | 273 (84%) | 386 (94%) | 14 (82%) |
| Current smoker (%) | 129 (31%) | 645 (14%) | 118 (13%) | 188 (23%) | 46 (21%) | 90 (26%) | 7 (22%) |
| Cotreatment with oral steroids (%) | 218 (50%) | 2559 (49%) | 435 (46%) | 491 (34%) | 100 (29%) | 264 (68%) | 33 (77%) |
| Visit-based clinical data | |||||||
| Clinical data at treatment start | |||||||
| Median SJC(28) (IQR) | 6 (3–9) | 6 (3–9) | 5 (2–8) | 4 (2– 8) | 4 (2– 7) | 5 (2–10) | 8 (3–12) |
| Median TJC(28) (IQR) | 6 (3–10) | 6 (3–10) | 5 (2–9) | 7 (3– 13) | 7 (3– 12) | 6 (2–12) | 6 (0–9) |
| Median CRP (IQR) | 8 (3–23) | 11 (5–28) | 8 (4–22) | 11 (4– 27) | 9 (4– 21) | 10 (4–25) | 7 (2–13) |
| Median ESR (IQR) | 24 (13–42) | 28 (14–46) | 22 (11–41) | NA | NA | 26 (13–44) | 26 (14–42) |
| Median Patient Global VAS (IQR) | 60 (38–75) | 61 (42–76) | 60 (35–74) | 73 (52– 87) | 72 (53– 86) | 61 (38–77) | 59 (30–72) |
| Median HAQ (IQR) | 1.13 (0.75–1.50) | 1.25 (0.88–1.75) | 1.13 (0.63–1.63) | 1.50 (1.00– 2.00) | 1.38 (0.88– 2.00) | 0.88 (0.50–1.13) | 0.63 (0.19–1.00) |
| 3 months | |||||||
| Retention (%) | 233 (92%) | 2472 (95%) | 411 (96%) | 973 (90%) | 268 (91%) | 294 (97%) | 42 (100%) |
| Persistence (%) | 229 (90%) | 2454 (94%) | 407 (95%) | 960 (89%) | 266 (90%) | 286 (94%) | 42 (100%) |
| EULAR good response | 49 (26%) | 460 (24%) | 73 (23%) | 230 (30%) | 74 (33%) | 70 (25%) | 5 (12%) |
| 6 months | |||||||
| Retention (%) | 226 (88%) | 2767 (91%) | 500 (92%) | 927 (84%) | 251 (88%) | 277 (89%) | 41 (100%) |
| Persistence (%) | 211 (82%) | 2664 (87%) | 485 (89%) | 882 (80%) | 242 (85%) | 265 (85%) | 41 (100%) |
| EULAR good response | 56 (28%) | 651 (28%) | 145 (35%) | 222 (29%) | 60 (28%) | 95 (37%) | 12 (29%) |
| 12 months | |||||||
| Retention (%) | 277 (82%) | 3138 (82%) | 583 (81%) | 913 (74%) | 238 (76%) | 269 (81%) | 37 (100%) |
| Persistence (%) | 250 (74%) | 2906 (76%) | 547 (76%) | 858 (70%) | 228 (73%) | 254 (77%) | 37 (100%) |
| EULAR good response | 69 (27%) | 816 (28%) | 171 (32%) | 241 (32%) | 74 (36%) | 99 (40%) | 7 (20%) |
Characteristics of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian treatment cohorts at the start of rituximab (baseline), outcomes during 1 year and retention and persistence during 1 year of follow-up. Percentages are calculated based on available data, for proportions of missing data, see online supplemental table 10.
*Calculated on the subset of patients starting rituximab treatment year 2006 or later.
†Seropositivity defined as diagnosed with ICD code M05.8 or M05.9 and seronegative defined as diagnosed with M06.0 or M06.8 (and, if available, negative for anti-CCP and IgM RF).
CRP, C reactive protein; DANBIO, Danish Registry for Biologic Therapies in Rheumatology; DRB, Danish Rheumatologic Biobank; EIRA, Epidemiological Investigation of RA; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; EULAR, European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; NOR-DMARD, The Norwegian Antirheumatic Drug Register; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SJC28, swollen 28 joint count; ULRABIT, ULtrasound in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients starting BIologic Treatment; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale.