Table 2.
Clinical features and use of treatments at the beginning of first-line biologics treatment by time periods.
| Variable | 2007–2009 | 2010–2013 | 2014–2017 | 2018–2020 | p | Homogeneous subsets** | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical features | |||||||
| Disease evolution time to first biologics in years, median (P25;P75) | 5.5 (1.9; 11.9) | 4.1 (1.5; 10.3) | 3.7 (1.2; 8.9) | 3.4 (1.1; 8.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 4.2 (1.4;10.0) |
| RA | 5.7 (2.2; 12.1) | 4.5 (1.8; 10.3) | 5.4 (2.2; 10.8) | 4.3 (1.7; 9.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 5.0 (2.0; 10.5) |
| PsA | 5.0 (1.7; 9.6) | 3.5 (1.4; 9.1) | 3.0 (1.0; 7.2) | 3.0 (1.0; 7.0) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 3.4 (1.2; 8.0) |
| AS | 5.9 (1.4; 14.6) | 4.2 (0.8; 12.6) | 2.6 (0.8; 9.1) | 2.5 (0.7; 8.6) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 3.6 (0.9; 11.8) |
| DAS28 at baseline, mean ± SD | |||||||
| RA | 5.3 ± 1.3 | 4.8 ± 1.4 | 4.8 ± 1.1 | 4.7 ± 1.3 | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 4.9 ± 1.3 |
| PsA | 4.9 ± 1.3 | 4.8 ± 1.5 | 4.1 ± 1.3 | 4.2 ± 1.2 | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 4.4 ± 1.3 |
| Treatments | |||||||
| Use of TNF inhibitors as first-line treatment, n (%) | 1441 (94.7) | 669 (85.1) | 660 (74.5) | 989 (73.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 3759 (82.7) |
| RA | 791 (90.9) | 277 (71.0) | 195 (59.5) | 459 (75.9) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1722 (78.5) |
| PsA | 317 (99.7) | 191 (98.5) | 210 (75.0) | 255 (61.6) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 973 (80.7) |
| AS | 333 (99.7) | 201 (99.5) | 255 (91.7) | 275 (83.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1064 (93.0) |
| Monotherapy | 444 (29.2) | 284 (36.1) | 338 (38.2) | 576 (42.7) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1642 (36.1) |
| Concomitant therapy, n (%) | |||||||
| Methotrexate | 830 (54.5) | 362 (46.1) | 329 (37.1) | 522 (38.7) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 2043 (45.0) |
| Leflunomide | 232 (15.2) | 135 (17.2) | 176 (19.9) | 207 (15.3) | 0.014 | 1 2 3 4 | 750 (16.5) |
| Others | 157 (10.3) | 68 (8.7) | 117 (13.2) | 128 (9.5) | 0.010 | 1 2 3 4 | 470 (10.3) |
| Use of corticosteroids | 701 (46.1) | 323 (41.1) | 334 (37.7) | 542 (40.2) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1900 (41.8) |
| Retention rate at end of first year of follow-up, n (%) | 1138 (74.8) | 571 (72.7) | 599 (67.6) | 678 (50.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 2986 (65.7) |
| RA | 587 (67.5) | 260 (66.7) | 196 (59.8) | 312 (52.6) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1355 (61.8) |
| PsA | 266 (83.7) | 152 (78.4) | 202 (72.1) | 200 (48.3) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 820 (68.0) |
| AS | 285 (85.3) | 159 (78.7) | 201 (72.3) | 166 (50.3) | 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 811 (70.9) |
| Comorbidities | |||||||
| Charlson Index, mean ± SD | 1.6 ± 0.9 | 1.6 ± 0.9 | 1.9 ± 1.4 | 2.0 ± 1.3 | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 1.8 ± 1.2 |
| Cancer, n (%) | 29 (1.9) | 14 (1.8) | 33 (3.7) | 64 (4.7) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 140 (3.1) |
| Lymphoma, n (%) | 4 (0.3) | 1 (0.1) | 1 (0.1) | 4 (0.3) | 0.905 | 1 2 3 4 | 10 (0.2) |
| Ischemic heart disease, n (%) | 37 (2.4) | 18 (2.3) | 25 (2.8) | 36 (2.7) | 0.574 | 1 2 3 4 | 116 (2.6) |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 120 (7.9) | 46 (5.9) | 52 (5.9) | 112 (8.3) | 0.773 | 1 2 3 4 | 330 (7.3) |
| Heart failure, n (%) | 23 (1.5) | 10 (1.3) | 9 (1.0) | 15 (1.1) | 0.285 | 1 2 3 4 | 57 (1.3) |
| Hypercholesterolemia, n (%) | 226 (14.9) | 114 (14.5) | 225 (25.4) | 325 (24.1) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 890 (19.6) |
| Arterial hypertension, n (%) | 343 (22.5) | 159 (20.2) | 210 (23.7) | 315 (23.4) | 0.373 | 1 2 3 4 | 1027 (22.6) |
| Osteoporosis, n (%) | 179 (11.8) | 70 (8.9) | 69 (7.8) | 115 (8.5) | 0.002 | 1 2 3 4 | 433 (9.5) |
| Smoker, n (%) | 266 (17.5) | 128 (16.3) | 225 (25.4) | 296 (21.9) | < 0.001 | 1 2 3 4 | 915 (20.1) |
*Centers that included at least one patient in this analysis.
**Numbers in the homogeneous subsets column represent the four consecutive periods of time. Lines join time periods in which differences were not statistically significant.