Key clinical point: Tapering biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARD) or both b/tsDMARD and conventional synthetic (cs) DMARD increased the risk for disease flares in patients with well-controlled rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Major finding: Compared with patients whose medication was not tapered, the risk for flares was 31 times higher in the b/tsDMARD taper group (hazard ratio [HR] 31.43; P < .0001) and 18 times higher in the b/tsDMARD and csDMARD taper group (HR 18.45; P = .0039).
Study details: This 2-year prospective cohort study included 131 patients with RA who were on stable b/tsDMARD with or without csDMARD and achieved remission or low disease activity, of whom 39.7% underwent a DMARD taper.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the Autoimmune Association - Young Investigator Grant Award. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Tageldin M et al. A real-world 2-year prospective study of medication tapering in patients with well-controlled rheumatoid arthritis within the rheumatoid arthritis medication tapering (RHEUMTAP) cohort. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2023;62(Suppl 4):iv8-iv13 (Oct 19). doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kead430