Dataset Information

Dose Reduction of Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitor and its Effect on Medical Costs for Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Tumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) may be administered at a reduced dose to patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) for various reasons. However, in practice, there is insufficient evidence of how the dose reduction of TNFi is implemented and the amount of medical costs it reduces. In this study, we investigated treatment patterns among patients with AS who were administered various TNFis. The effect on medical costs related to AS was also investigated using Korea's insurance claims database.

Methods

From the insurance claims database of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in South Korea, patients with AS newly treated with TNFis (etanercept, adalimumab, golimumab, and infliximab) between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2016, were enrolled. Patients treated with the TNFis were followed up for 2 years. Treatment patterns (continuation and discontinuation of TNFi) and dose reduction (< 50% of recommended dose) in patients who continued treatment were analyzed and compared among the TNFi groups using the Chi-square test. Healthcare costs between the dose reduction and maintenance groups were compared using general linear modeling.

Results

Of 1352 patients, 764 (56.51%) continued using TNFis for 2 years, and 17.8% of these were administered reduced doses. TNFi dose reduction was the most frequent in 36 (24.83%) patients using etanercept, followed by those using adalimumab (21.97%), golimumab (11.70%), and infliximab (11.98%) (p = 0.0028). For each TNFi group, the total healthcare cost significantly decreased, that is, by 24.85% for adalimumab, 31.80% for etanercept, 26.34% for golimumab, and 35.52% for infliximab (p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

TNFi dose reduction was identified in 17.8% of the patients with AS, and the patterns were different for each TNFi. Additionally, the dose reductions significantly reduced the medical costs associated with AS, that is, from 24.85 to 35.52% of the total medical expenditure.

SUBMITTER: Koo BS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7991020 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:This study aims to investigate the prevalence of short-term and long-term adverse events associated with tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) blocker treatment in Chinese Han patients suffering from ankylosing spondylitis (AS).The study included 402 Chinese Han AS patients treated with TNF-α blockers. Baseline data was collected. All patients were monitored for adverse events 2 hours following administration. Long-term treatment was evaluated at 8, 12, 52 and 104 weeks follow-up for 172 patients treated with TNF-α blockers.Short-term adverse events occurred in 20.15% (81/402), including rash (3.5%; 14/402), pruritus (1.2%; 5/402), nausea (2.2%; 9/402), headache (0.7%; 3/402), skin allergies (4.0%; 16/402), fever (0.5%; 2/402), palpitations (3.0%; 12/402), dyspnea (0.5%; 2/402), chest pain (0.2%; 1/402), [corrected] abdominal pain (1.0%; 4/402), hypertension (2.2%; 9/402), papilledema (0.5%; 2/402), laryngeal edema (0.2%; 1/402) and premature ventricular contraction (0.2%; 1/402). Long-term adverse events occurred in 59 (34.3%; 59/172) patients, including pneumonia (7.6%; 13/172), urinary tract infections (9.9%; 17/172), otitis media (4.7%; 8/172), tuberculosis are (3.5%; 6/172) [corrected], abscess (1.2%; 2/172), oral candidiasis (0.6%; 1/172), elevation of transaminase (1.7%; 3/172), anemia (1.2%; 2/172), hematuresis (0.6%; 1/172), constipation (2.3%; 4/172), weight loss (0.6%; 1/172), exfoliative dermatitis (0.6%; 1/172). CRP, ESR and disease duration were found to be associated with an increased risk of immediate and long-term adverse events (P<0.05). Long-term treatment with Infliximab was associated with more adverse events than rhTNFR-Fc (P<0.01).This study reports on the prevalence of adverse events in short-term and long-term treatment with TNF-α blocker monotherapy in Chinese Han AS patients. Duration of disease, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and c-reactive protein serum levels were found to be associated with increased adverse events with anti-TNF-α therapy. Long-term treatment with Infliximab was associated with more adverse events than rhTNFR-Fc.

Project description:To study the effect of tumor necrosis factor ? (TNF?) inhibitors on progressive spinal damage in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).All AS patients meeting the modified New York criteria who had been monitored prospectively and had at least 2 sets of spinal radiographs a minimum of 1.5 years apart were included in the study (n=334). The patients received standard therapy, which included nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs and TNF? inhibitors. Radiographic severity was assessed by the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spine Score (mSASSS). Patients with a rate of AS progression that was ?1 mSASSS unit/year were considered progressors. Univariable and multivariable regression analyses were done. Propensity score matching and sensitivity analysis were performed. A zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was used to analyze the effect of TNF? inhibitors on the change in the mSASSS with varying followup periods. Potential confounders, such as disease activity (as assessed by the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index), the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein level, HLA-B27 positivity, sex, age at onset, smoking burden (number of pack-years), and baseline damage, were included in the model.TNF? inhibitor treatment was associated with a 50% reduction in the odds of progression, with an odds ratio (OR) of 0.52 (95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.30-0.88, P=0.02). Patients with a delay of >10 years in starting therapy were more likely to experience progression as compared to those who started earlier (OR 2.4 [95% CI 1.09-5.3], P=0.03). In the ZINB model, the use of TNF? inhibitors significantly reduced disease progression when the gap between radiographs was >3.9 years. The protective effect of TNF? inhibitors was stronger after propensity score matching.Treatment with TNF? inhibitors appears to reduce radiographic progression in AS patients, especially with early initiation and with longer duration of followup.

Project description:ImportanceTumor necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFis) have revolutionized the management of ankylosing spondylitis (AS); however, the lack of notable clinical responses in approximately one-half of patients suggests important heterogeneity in treatment response. Identifying patients likely to respond or not respond to TNFis could provide opportunities to personalize treatment strategies.ObjectiveTo develop models of the probability of short-term response to TNFi treatment in individual patients with active AS.Design, setting, and participantsThis is a retrospective cohort study using data of the TNFi group (ie, treatment group) from 10 randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of TNFi treatment among patients with active AS, conducted from 2002 to 2016. Participants were adult patients with active AS who failed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Included RCTs were phase 3 and 4 studies that assessed the efficacy of an originator TNFi at week 12 and/or week 24, either compared with placebo or an antirheumatic drug. The cohort was divided into a training and a testing set. Data analysis was conducted from July 1, 2019, to November 30, 2020.ExposuresAll included patients received an originator TNFi for at least 12 weeks.Main outcomes and measuresOutcomes included major response and no response based on the change of AS Disease Activity Score at 12 weeks. Machine learning algorithms were applied to estimate the probability of having major response and no response for individual patients.ResultsThe study included 1899 participants from 10 trials. The training set included 1207 individuals (mean [SD] age, 39 [12] years; 908 [75.2%] men), of whom 407 (33.7%) had major response and 414 (34.3%) had no response. In the reduced logistic regression models, accuracy was 0.74 for major response and 0.75 for no response. The probability of major response increased with higher C-reactive protein (CRP) level, patient global assessment (PGA), and Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) question 2 score and decreased with higher body mass index (BMI) and Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI) score. The probability of no response increased with age and BASFI score, and decreased with higher CRP level, BASDAI question 2 score, and PGA. In the testing set (692 participants; mean [SD] age, 38 [11] years; 533 [77.0%] men), models demonstrated moderate to high accuracy.Conclusions and relevanceIn this cohort study, the probability of initial response to TNFi was predicted from baseline variables, which may facilitate personalized treatment decision-making.