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Table 3 Prescription patterns of concomitant MTX, LFN, SSZ, and PDN with the first TNF antagonist

From: Comparative effectiveness of treatment with the first TNF antagonist in monotherapy, the first TNF antagonist plus one conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, and the first TNF antagonist plus two or more conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Current treatment with synthetic DMARDs plus the first TNF antagonist

First TNF antagonist monotherapy

First TNF antagonist plus one csDMARD

First TNF antagonist plus two or more csDMARDs

Total

P*

 

n

%

n

%

n

%

n

%

 
 

234

21

766

67

136

12

1.136

100

 

None (n, %)

172

73

       

PDN (n, %)

62

26

336

44

115

84

513

45

0.0001

MTX (n, %)

  

364

47

    

< 0.0001

MTX + PDN (n, %)

  

189

25

    

< 0.0001

LFN + PDN (n, %)

  

129

17

    

< 0.0001

LFN (n, %)

  

57

7

    

< 0.0001

SSZ + PDN (n, %)

  

9

1

    

< 0.0001

SSZ (n, %)

  

5

0.6

    

< 0.0001

Combinations (n, %)

        

< 0.0001

 MTX + LFN + PDN

    

66

48

  

 MTX + SSZ + PDN

    

24

17

  

 MTX + SSZ

    

12

9

  

 LFN + CLQ + PDN

    

8

6

  

 MTX + SSZ + HCLQ + PDN

    

5

4

  

 MTX + LFN

    

4

3

  

 Others

    

17

13

  

NSAIDs (n, %)

201

86

673

88

127

93

1.013

88

0.09

 

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

 

Current PDN dose, mg/day (mean ± SD)

10.7

±5.6

9.6

±6.7

10.0

±7.5

9.8

±6.6

0.002

Current MTX dose, mg/week (mean ± SD)

0

0

15.3

±4.8

16.0

4.7

15.5

4.8

0.08

Duration of current treatment with MTX (months) (mean ± SD)

  

31.0

32.2

21.5

23.6

27.6

28.6

0.0001

Current LFN dose, mg/day (mean ± SD)

0

0

18.8

3.1

15.6

4.9

17.8

4.0

< 0.0001

Duration of current treatment with LFN (months) (mean ± SD)

  

12.9

19.0

9.4

9.9

12.0

16.5

0.5

Follow up, (years) (mean ± SD)

2.1

1.0

1.8

1.0

1.6

1.1

1.8

1.1

0.0001

  1. csDMARD conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, DMARD disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, MTX methotrexate, LFN leflunomide, SSZ sulfasalazine, PDN prednisone, NDAID non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug