European bio-naive spondyloarthritis patients initiating TNF inhibitor: time trends in baseline characteristics, treatment retention and response

Objectives To investigate time trends in baseline characteristics and retention, remission and response rates in bio-naive axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients initiating TNF inhibitor (TNFi) treatment. Methods Prospectively collected data on bio-naive axSpA and PsA patients from routine care in 15 European countries were pooled. Three cohorts were defined according to year of TNFi initiation: A (1999-2008), B (2009-2014) and C (2015-2018). Retention, remission and response rates were assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months. Results In total, 27 149 axSpA and 17 446 PsA patients were included. Cohort A patients had longer disease duration compared with B and C. In axSpA, cohort A had the largest proportion of male and HLA-B27 positive patients. In PsA, baseline disease activity was highest in cohort A. Retention rates in axSpA/PsA were highest in cohort A and differed only slightly between B and C. For all cohorts, disease activity decreased markedly from 0 to 6 months. In axSpA, disease activity at 24 months was highest in cohort A, where also remission and response rates were lowest. In PsA, remission rates at 6 and 12 months tended to be lowest in cohort A. Response rates were at all time points comparable across cohorts, and less between-cohort disease activity differences were seen at 24 months. Conclusion Our findings indicate that over the past decades, clinicians have implemented more aggressive treatment strategies in spondyloarthritis. This was illustrated by shorter disease duration at treatment initiation, decreased retention rates and higher remission rates during recent years.

Automated summary

This study investigated the time trends in baseline characteristics and treatment outcomes of TNF inhibitor (TNFi) treatment in bio-naive axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients. The results showed that over the past decades, clinicians have implemented more aggressive treatment strategies in spondyloarthritis, leading to shorter disease duration at treatment initiation, decreased retention rates, and higher remission rates.