PurposeProper adherence and persistence to medications are crucial for better quality of life and improved outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis (PsO), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA). We systematically describe current adherence and persistence patterns for RA, PsO, and PsA, with a focus on biologics and identifying factors associated with adherence and persistence.Patients and methodsUsing various databases, a systematic literature review of US-based studies published from 2000 to 2015 on medication adherence and persistence to biologics and associated factors was conducted among patients with RA, PsO, and PsA.ResultsUsing the medication possession ratio or the percentage of days covered >80%, RA and PsO adherence rates for etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab ranged from 16% to 73%, 21% to 70%, and 38% to 81%, respectively. Using the criteria of a ≥45-day gap, RA persistence rates for etanercept, adalimumab, and infliximab ranged from 46% to 89%, 42% to 94%, and 41% to 76%, respectively. In PsO, persistence rates for etanercept and adalimumab ranged from 34% to 50% and 50% to 62%, respectively. Similar persistence rates were observed in PsA. Experienced biologics users showed better adherence and persistence. Younger age, female gender, higher out-of-pocket costs, greater disease severity, and more comorbidities were associated with lower adherence and persistence rates. Qualitative surveys revealed that nonpersistence was partly due to perceived ineffectiveness and safety/tolerability concerns.ConclusionBiologic adherence and persistence rates in RA, PsO, and PsA in the United States were low, with significant opportunity for improvement. Various factors – including decrease in disease severity; reduction of comorbidities; lower out-of-pocket costs; refilling at specialty pharmacies; and awareness of drug effectiveness, safety, and tolerability – can inform targeted approaches to improve these rates.
Purpose-Although metabolic syndrome incidence has substantially increased during the last few decades, it largely remains unclear whether this metabolic disorder is associated with total cancer mortality. The present study was carried out to investigate this important question.Methods-A total of 687 cancer deaths were identified from 14,916 participants in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by linking them to the National Death Index database through December 31, 2006. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for total cancer mortality in relation to metabolic syndrome and its individual components.Results-After adjustment for confounders, a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was associated with 33% elevated total cancer mortality. Compared with individuals without metabolic syndrome, those with 3, 4 and 5 abnormal components had HRs (95% CIs) of 1.28 (1.03-1.59), 1.24 (0.96-1.60), and 1.87 (1.34-2.63), respectively (p-trend = 0.0003). Systolic blood pressure and serum glucose were associated with an increased risk of death from total cancer [HR (95% CI) for highest vs. lowest quartiles: 1.67 (1.19-2.33), p-trend = 0.002 and 1.34 (1.04-1.74), p-trend = 0.003, respectively]. Overall null results were obtained for lung cancer mortality. The effects of metabolic syndrome and its components on non-lung cancer mortality were generally similar to, but somewhat larger than, those for total cancer mortality.Conclusion-Our study is among the first to reveal that metabolic syndrome is associated with increased total cancer mortality.
Background: There is lack of real-world treatment pattern comparison data between ixekizumab and adalimumab which are approved for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Objective: To compare real-world treatment patterns among psoriasis patients initiating ixekizumab or adalimumab in the United States. Methods: Psoriasis patients with ≥1 claim for ixekizumab or adalimumab between March 1, 2016, and May 31, 2018, were identified (index date = date of first ixekizumab or adalimumab claim) from the IBM Watson Health MarketScan ® databases. Patients were required to be continuously enrolled for ≥12 months before the index date and followed for a minimum of 6 months until inpatient death, enrollment end, or study end, whichever occurred first. Treatment persistence, adherence, discontinuation, restart, and switching were analyzed. Inverse probability of treatment weighting and multivariable regression modeling were employed to address cohort imbalances and estimate the adjusted risk of non-persistence, discontinuation, and switching, and the odds of adherence. Results: A total of 646 ixekizumab and 3668 adalimumab users were included and followed for a mean of 14.0 and 16.5 months, respectively. Compared to adalimumab, ixekizumab was associated with 19% lower risk of non-persistence (hazard ratio [HR]=0.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69-0.95), 26% lower risk of discontinuation (HR=0.74, 95% CI: 0.62-0.88), and 28% lower risk of switching (HR=0.72, 95% CI: 0.57-0.91). Ixekizumab users had higher odds of medication possession ratio ≥80% (odds ratio [OR]=1.36, 95% CI: 1.10-1.69) but similar odds by proportion of days covered ≥80% (OR=1.22, 95% CI: 0.98-1.53). Conclusion: Psoriasis patients treated with ixekizumab demonstrated longer persistency, higher adherence and were less likely to discontinue or switch treatment compared to adalimumab users. However, while patients achieving highly adherent threshold significantly differed by MPR ≥80%, it did not by PDC ≥80%; hence, further analysis using fixed-length follow-up is required.
To compare drug survival of ixekizumab to other IL-17 inhibitors (IL-17i) and TNF inhibitors (TNFi) among patients with psoriasis (PsO) in a real-world setting. Participants included adult PsO patients enrolled in the Corrona Psoriasis Registry who initiated ixekizumab, TNFi, or other IL-17i between 16 March 2016 to 10 August 2019 and completed ≥1 follow-up visit. Multivariable adjusted hazard ratios (HR) were calculated to estimate the risk for drug discontinuation in the ixekizumab group relative to the other drugs. Among the 1604 drug initiations, 552 initiated ixekizumab, 450 initiated TNFi, and 602 initiated other IL-17i. Mean age was 51 years, 49% were women, and 52% were obese (BMI > 30). Ixekizumab patients had a higher proportion of patients with PASI >12 at drug initiation (24%) than TNFi (15%) and other IL-17i (19%). Over a median of 11 months of follow-up, 723/1604 (45%) drug discontinuations occurred. Persistence of ixekizumab, TNFi, and other IL-17i at 24-months were 68%, 33%, and 46%, among biologic-naïve patients (n = 543), and 46%, 23%, and 36%, for biologic-experienced patients (n = 1061), respectively. Ixekizumab patients had a 64% lower risk of discontinuation vs TNFi (HR = 0.36; 95% CI 0.27-0.47) and a 31% lower risk vs other IL-17i (HR = 0.69, 95% CI 0.55-0.87) after adjustment for biologic experience and other covariates. HRs were similar when limited to patients with moderate-to-severe PsO (BSA > 3, PASI > 3, and IGA > 1, n = 1076) at initiation. In our study of real-world patients with PsO, initiators of ixekizumab had more prolonged drug survival than both initiators of TNFi and other IL-17i up to 2 years of follow-up.
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