Table 1. Characteristics of 234 Patients With Plaque Psoriasis Who Were Treated With Methotrexate and Biologics, Alone or Sequentiallya.
| Characteristic | No. (%) of Patients | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | Methotrexate Only | Biologic Agent Onlyb | P Valuec | Sequential Methotrexate and Biologic Agentd or Vice Versa | P Valuee | |
| Patients, No. (%) | 234 | 163 (69.7) | 47 (20.1) | 24 (10.2) | NA | |
| Continent | NA | |||||
| North America | 148 (63.0) | 111 (68.1) | 33 (70.2) | .78 | 4 (16.7) | |
| Europe | 87 (37.0) | 52 (31.9) | 14 (29.8) | 20 (83.3) | ||
| Sex | NA | |||||
| Male | 103 (44.0) | 68 (41.7) | 17 (36.2) | .50 | 18 (75.0) | |
| Female | 131 (56.0) | 95 (58.3) | 30 (63.8) | 6 (25.0) | ||
| Race | NA | |||||
| White | 149 (63.7) | 96 (58.9) | 32 (68.1) | .94 | 20 (83.3) | |
| Black or African American | 8 (3.4) | 7 (4.3) | 1 (2.1) | 0 | ||
| Asian | 6 (2.6) | 4 (2.5) | 1 (2.1) | 1 (4.2) | ||
| Unknown or not reported | 71 (30.3) | 56 (34.4) | 13 (27.7) | 3 (12.5) | ||
| Ethnicity | NA | |||||
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 104 (44.4) | 70 (42.9) | 21 (44.7) | .49 | 13 (54.2) | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 27 (11.5) | 16 (9.8) | 8 (17.0) | 2 (8.3) | ||
| Unknown or not reported | 103 (44.0) | 77 (47.2) | 18 (38.3) | 9 (37.5) | ||
| BMI category (n = 102) | (n = 89) | (n = 85) | (n = 17) | (n = 12) | NA | |
| Underweight | 6 (5.7) | 6 (8.1) | 0 | .12 | 0 | |
| Normal weight | 52 (49.5) | 36 (48.6) | 8 (44.4) | 7 (58.3) | ||
| Overweight | 18 (17.1) | 11 (14.9) | 7 (38.9) | 0 | ||
| Obesity | 29 (27.6) | 21 (28.4) | 3 (16.7) | 5 (41.7) | ||
| BMI percentile, mean (SD) | 66.5 (32.2) | 66.3 (32.5) | 76.6 (26.1) | .22 | 67.0 (31.3) | NA |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 21.4 (6.1) | 21.4 (6.0) | 24.6 (7.5) | .06 | 22.3 (7.4) | NA |
| Age at diagnosis, mean (SD), y | 8.7 (3.8) | 8.6 (3.8) | 9.1 (3.9) | .46 | 8.0 (3.5) | NA |
| Age at start of systemic therapy, mean (SD), y | NAf | 11.6 (3.7) | 13.3 (2.9) | .002 | Methotrexate: 12.0 (2.9) Biologic: 13.3 (3.1) | .002 |
| Disease duration, mean (SD), y | NAf | 3.1 (3.4) | 4.1 (3.3) | .09 | Methotrexate: 4.0 (3.2) Biologic: 5.3 (3.2) | .001 |
| Treatment duration, mean (SD), y | NAf | 1.6 (1.8) | 1.8 (1.6) | .39 | Methotrexate: 1.1 (1.0) Biologic: 1.4 (1.4) | .46 |
| Naive for systemic medication/previously used systemic medication | NAf | 159 (97.5) | 45 (95.7) | .62 | Methotrexate: 20 (83.3) Biologic: 1 (4.2) | .001 |
| Naive for biologic agents/previously used biologic agentsg | NAf | 163 (100.0) | NA | NA | Methotrexate: 23 (95.8) Biologic: NA | NA |
| Naive for methotrexate/previously used methotrexated | NAf | NA | 47 (100.0) | NA | Methotrexate: NA Biologic: 1 (4.2) | NA |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared); NA, not applicable.
Patients could have been previously treated with conventional systemic agents (except methotrexate). However, patients were treated at any one time with a single systemic medication.
Etanercept was the most frequently prescribed biologic (32 [68.1%]) followed by adalimumab (11 [23.4%]), ustekinumab (3 [6.4%]), and infliximab (1 [2.1%]).
Comparison of patients who received single-agent therapy with methotrexate or a biologic. Continuous data were compared by independent-samples t test and categorical data by χ2 tests for independence or Fisher exact test if applicable.
Etanercept was the most frequently prescribed biologic (20 [83.3%]) followed by adalimumab (3 [12.5%]) and ustekinumab (1 4.2%]).
Continuous and categorical data were compared by generalized estimating equations to account for dependence of measurements with different systemics used by 1 patient.
Mean could not be calculated for the total group because 24 patients were treated sequentially with methotrexate and biologic agents or vice versa.
Of 24 patients, 23 switched from methotrexate to biologics and 1 switched from biologics to methotrexate.