Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who cycled between more conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs) had increased economic burden in the 12 months following biologic initiation and were more likely to switch therapy. This according to a study of 6,215 patients with RA who used 1 csDMARD, 3,227 who used 2 csDMARDs, and 976 who used 3 or more csDMARDs. Researchers found:

• At baseline, patients in the ≥ 3 DMARDs cohort had the least severe RA.

• During the study period, there was a significant association between number of csDMARDs and higher all-cause total healthcare costs.

• All-cause medical and pharmacy costs were also significantly higher with the increasing number of csDMARDs.

• Patients who cycled between more csDMARDs were also more likely to switch treatment after biologic initiation.

• There were no differences in index biologic discontinuation between the 3 cohorts.

Citation: Betts KA, Griffith J, Ganguli A, Li N, Douglas K, Wu EQ. Economic burden and treatment patterns of cycling between conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs among biologic-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis. [Published online ahead of print April 1, 2016]. Clin Ther. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2016.03.013.