Persistence on subcutaneous tocilizumab as monotherapy or in combination with synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs in rheumatoid arthritis patients in Greece (EMBRACE study): a multicenter, post-marketing, non-interventional, observational trial

Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, inflammatory disease affecting multiple organs and causing physical disability over time. Objective The primary objective was to evaluate treatment persistence to subcutaneous tocilizumab (TCZ-SC). Additionally, treatment effects on persistence a...

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Published in:Clinical rheumatology 2024-05, Vol.43 (5), p.1469-1478
Main Authors: Athanassiou, Panagiotis, Katsimbri, Pelagia, Bounas, Andreas, Gazi, Sοusana, Sarikoudis, Theodosios, Syrigou, Victoria, Boumpas, Dimitrios
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized
Antirheumatic Agents - adverse effects
Arthritis, Rheumatoid - chemically induced
Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy
Clinical outcomes
Female
Greece
Humans
Inflammatory diseases
Injections, Subcutaneous
Joint diseases
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Original
Original Article
Pain
Pain - drug therapy
Patients
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatology
Treatment Outcome
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Summary:Introduction Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic, inflammatory disease affecting multiple organs and causing physical disability over time. Objective The primary objective was to evaluate treatment persistence to subcutaneous tocilizumab (TCZ-SC). Additionally, treatment effects on persistence and their associations with clinical and patient-reported outcomes were assessed. Method We performed a multicenter, non-interventional, 52-week observational study on 222 patients with moderate or severe RA. Clinical outcomes were evaluated by using disease activity score for 28 joints (DAS28) and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response, and patients’ perceptions were evaluated by using Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain, and patient global assessment (PtGA) of disease activity. Safety was assessed throughout the study. Results The mean age of the overall cohort was 62.2 ± 12.3 years, and 83.8% were females. Persistence to TCZ-SC was 89.6% at week 24 and 85.1% at week 52 in the overall cohort with slightly increased persistence in the combination group. At week 52, changes from the baseline were − 2.68 in DAS28, − 0.76 in HAQ, − 43.21 in VAS pain, and − 41.66 in PtGA ( p  
ISSN:0770-3198
1434-9949
DOI:10.1007/s10067-024-06916-5