Why carry out this study?

Abatacept treatment of patients with non-diabetic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) reported improved whole-body insulin sensitivity, reduced HbA1c levels, and a decreased risk of developing diabetes.

The use of tDMARDs in patients with RA has the potential to decrease the progression and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), however, there is limited information regarding the comparative economic impact of tDMARDs on patients with RA and T2DM.

The impact of initiation or switch to abatacept, TNFis, and other non-TNFis on T2DM-related costs and HCRU complications was evaluated.

What was learned from this study?

T2DM-related complication rates and costs trended lower for patients treated with abatacept compared with TNFi and other non-TNFi, which indicates that abatacept could potentially be more effective in reducing diabetes-related complications and hence the economic burden associated with them.

The results reported here suggest that use of abatacept treatment may improve the clinical and economic burden associated with T2DM in patients with RA.