Most patients in both cohorts achieved the treatment target using only conventional synthetic DMARDs at 12 months (91% in first cohort and 81% in second), and a small number of the patients in both cohorts were using biologic DMARDs at 12 months (4% in first cohort and 9% in second). Slightly more than half (53%) of patients in the second cohort received an intramuscular injection with triamcinolone, compared with just 3% in the first cohort, and its use was associated with more than a doubling of the odds of achieving first remission within 6 months (odds ratio, 2.14; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-4.4; P = .04). However, it did not affect the odds of remission at 12 months.
“Although we did not conduct a randomized trial, we still think that the design and results of the study allow us to compare the two cohorts. The cohorts consist of very similar populations of all consecutive newly diagnosed patients with RA treated in the same hospitals by the same rheumatologists,” the authors wrote. “Because in our study we used real-life observational data, the results are generalizable to daily clinical practice.”
The authors declared that they have no competing interests.