Why carry out this study?

Half of the older patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) do not respond adequately to the current therapeutic agents. A potent and safe treatment option needs to be established especially for older patients.

We prospectively analyzed the efficacy of abatacept in older and younger patients with inadequate response to csDMARD and compared with adding or switching csDMARD.

What was learned from the study?

The efficacies of abatacept are similar in older and younger patients with RA.

Abatacept constitutes an overall more favorable treatment option for older patients as well as younger patients than adding or switching to a new csDMARD treatment.