Table 1. Characteristics of the Treatment Groups.
| Featurea | NTZ vs RTX | DMF vs FGL | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NTZ (n = 204) | RTX (n = 115) | P value | DMF (n = 260) | FGL (n = 267) | P value | |
| Sex, No. (%) | ||||||
| Female | 160 (78.4) | 83 (72.2) | .26 | 198 (76.2) | 190 (71.2) | .23 |
| Male | 44 (21.6) | 32 (27.8) | 62 (23.8) | 77 (28.8) | ||
| Non-Hispanic White, No. (%) | 172 (84.3) | 99 (86.1) | .79 | 227 (87.3) | 222 (83.1) | .22 |
| Age at first MS ICD code, mean (SD), y | 37.2 (10.6) | 44.1 (11.1) | <.001 | 41.7 (10.4) | 37.9 (9.9) | <.001 |
| Follow-up duration, mean (SD), y | 3.7 (2.4) | 5.1 (3.7) | .009 | 7.0 (1.5) | 5.4 (1.9) | <.001 |
| Disease duration, mean (SD), y | 3.6 (2.4) | 5.1 (3.7) | .004 | 6.8 (1.6) | 5.4 (1.9) | <.001 |
| Health care utilization overall, mean (SD) | 5.1 (0.7) | 5.0 (0.9) | .15 | 5.0 (0.8) | 4.9 (0.7) | .04 |
| Health care utilization within 3 mo, mean (SD) | 4.5 (0.8) | 3.8 (0.9) | <.001 | 3.3 (0.9) | 3.6 (0.8) | <.001 |
| Normalized MS ICD code overall, mean (SD) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.5 (0.2) | .47 | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.5 (0.1) | .002 |
| Normalized MS ICD code within 3 mo, mean (SD) | 0.5 (0.3) | 0.5 (0.3) | .19 | 0.4 (0.3) | 0.5 (0.3) | <.001 |
| Normalized MS CUI code within 3 mo, mean (SD) | 0.07 (0.07) | 0.1 (0.1) | <.001 | 0.1 (0.1) | 0.1 (0.1) | .002 |
| Normalized corticosteroid use overall, mean (SD) | 0.05 (0.05) | 0.06 (0.07) | .70 | 0.04 (0.05) | 0.05 (0.06) | .04 |
| Normalized corticosteroid use within 3 mo, mean (SD) | 0.02 (0.03) | 0.02 (0.04) | .06 | 0.01 (0.03) | 0.02 (0.04) | .001 |
| Normalized MRI overall, mean (SD) | 0.09 (0.07) | 0.1 (0.09) | .03 | 0.2 (0.1) | 0.2 (0.1) | .03 |
| Normalized MRI within 6 mo, mean (SD) | 0.04 (0.05) | 0.08 (0.12) | .24 | 0.06 (0.08) | 0.06 (0.08) | .06 |
| Normalized hospitalization overall, mean (SD) | 0.1 (0.3) | 0.1 (0.3) | .91 | 0.1 (0.4) | 0.09 (0.3) | .04 |
| Normalized emergency department visits overall, mean (SD) | 0.3 (0.4) | 0.3 (0.5) | .38 | 0.3 (0.5) | 0.3 (0.5) | .29 |
| Months receiving prior DMT, mean (SD) | 26.5 (30.8) | 32.7 (37.5) | .52 | 43.9 (37.8) | 37.0 (33.1) | .05 |
| No. of relapses within prior 1 y, mean (SD) | 1.6 (0.8) | 1.3 (0.6) | <.001 | 1.1 (0.3) | 1.3 (0.6) | <.001 |
| No. of relapses within prior 2 y, mean (SD) | 1.9 (1.1) | 1.4 (0.8) | <.001 | 1.2 (0.5) | 1.5 (1.0) | <.001 |
Abbreviations: CUI, Concept Unique Identifier; DMF, dimethyl fumarate; DMT, disease-modifying therapy; FGL, fingolimod; ICD, International Classification of Diseases; MRI, magnetic resonance imaging; MS, multiple sclerosis; NTZ, natalizumab; RTX, rituximab.
a
For electronic health record features, we counted the occurrence of selected ICD, Current Procedural Terminology, and CUI codes according to 3 time frames (ie, 3 months, 6 months, or overall period prior to treatment initiation).