Characteristics of studies on interventions
| Study ID | PICO | Design | Duration | Follow-up | PMR criteria | Intervention | Control | No pt. | No female patients (%) | No patients with complete follow-up (%) | Outcomes (time point) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 Catoggio9 | 3 | Case–control (retro.) | 7 y | NR | Descript. | OP 10–15 mg | OP 7.5 mg | 36 | 18 (50) | 36 (100) | Relapse (>3 m) |
| 2004 Caporali10 2008 Cimmino11 | 9 | R, DB, Mul.+Obs. (prosp.) | 76 w 59 m† | Chuang | MTX 10 mg+OP 25 mg | OP 25 mg | 72 | 48 (67) | 62 (86) | Relapse (244876 w) Disc GC (244876 w) GC-sides (76 w) | |
| 1988 Delecoeuillerie12 | 5 | Case–control (retro.) | 10 y | NR | Descript. | OP 15–30 mg | OP 7–12 mg | 132 | NR | 132 (100) | Relapse (varT) Disc. GC (varT) Devel. GCA (varT) GC-sides (varT) |
| 1998 Dasgupta13 1997 Dolan14 | 7 | R, DB, Mul.+ Obs. (prosp.) | 12 w 84 w | Jones | IMP 120 mg/3 w (starting dose) | OP 15 mg (starting dose) | 60£ | 43 (72) | 49 (82) | Remission (124896 w) Disc GC (96 w) GC-sides (61224 m) Cumul GC (24, 52, 96 w) Mortality (96 w) | |
| 1996 Ferraccioli15 | 9 | R, Mul. | 12 m | Descript. | MTX 10 mg+OP 25 mg | OP 15 mg | 24 | 22 (92) | 24 (100) | Relapse (12 m) Disc GC (12 m) GC-sides (12 m) Cumul GC (6,12 m) ESR/CRP (12 m) GC-dose <5 mg (12 m) | |
| 2007 Fu16 | 12 | R | 12 w | Descript. | Yanghe+OP 20 mg | OP 20 mg | 61 | 43 (71) | 61 (100) | Remission (12 w) GC-sides (12 w) ESR (4812 w) Morning stiff (12 w) | |
| 1997 Gabriel17 & | 1 | Case–control (retro.) | 22 y | 8 y‡ | Descript. | NSAIDs | OP | 181 | 163 (89) | 181 (100) | GC-sides (varT) |
| 1986 Kanemaru18 | 4 | Case–control (retro.) | 9 y | NR | Hamrin | OP 60 mg | OP >10 mg and ≤30 mg | 6 | 3 (50) | 6 (100) | Relapse (after taper) |
| 2010 Kreiner19 | 11 | R, DB | 14 d | Chuang | ETN 25 mg 2×/week | Placebo | 22 | NR | 20 (91) | PMR-AS (2 w) | |
| 2005 Kremers20 & | 3 | Case–control (retro.) | 30 y | 5 y‡ | Descript. | OP >10 mg | OP <5 mg | 121 | NR | 12 (10) | Hazard 1st relapse |
| 6 | GC fast tapering | GC slow tapering | 163 | 42 (26) | |||||||
| 2007 Kremers21 * | 1 | Case–control (retro.) | 30 y | 8 y‡ | Descript. | NSAIDs | OP | 364 | 244 (67) | NR | GC-sides (varT) |
| 1989 Kyle22,23 | 5 | R+Obs. (prosp.) | NR | 2 m 12–177 w | Jones | OP 20 mg | OP 10 mg | 39 | NR | 39 (100) | Relapse (2 m) GC-sides (varT) |
| 2013 Lee24 | 5 | Case–control (retro.) | NR | 114 w† | Bird | OP >15 mg | OP ≤15 mg | 39 | NR | 39 (100) | Relapse (varT) |
| 9 | OP+HCQ OP+MTX | OP OP | 24 12 | 24 (100) 12 (100) | |||||||
| 2010 Mackie25 | 5 | Case–control (retro.) | NR | 5 y | Bird | OP >15 mg | OP ≤15 mg | 171 | 124 (73) | 164 (96) | Relapse (5 y) Dur. GC therapy Devel. GCA (5 y) |
| 2001 Myklebust26 | 3 | Case–control (retro.) | 8 y | NR | Bird/Hamrin | OP >10 mg and ≤30 mg | OP ≤10 mg | 175 | 124 (71) | 157 (90) | Disc GC (1, 2 y) |
| 4 | OP >30 mg | OP >10 mg and ≤30 mg | 206 | 139 (68) | 188 (91) | ||||||
| 5 | OP >15 mg and ≤30 mg | OP ≤15 mg | 175 | 120 (69) | 157 (90) | ||||||
| 2013 Nazarina27 | 9 | R | 44 w | Chuang | MTX 10 mg+OP 15 mg | OP 15 mg | 58 | 30 (52) | 47 (81) | Remission (44 w) Relapse (44 w) Cumul GC (44 w) | |
| 2007 Salvarani28 | 10 | R, DB, Mul. | 52 w | Healey | IFX 3 mg/kg+OP 15 mg | OP 15 mg | 51 | 31 (61) | 47 (92) | Relapse (22, 52 w) Disc GC (22, 52 w) GC-sides (52 w) | |
| 1996 van der Veen29 | 9 | R, DB, Mul. | 2 y | Descript. | MTX 7.5 mg+OP 20 mg | OP 20 mg | 40 | 30 (75) | 21 (53) | Remission (104 w) Relapse (24 m) GC-sides (24 m) | |
| 2009 Wang30 | 12 | R | 12 w | Bird | Biqi+OP 10 mg | OP 10 mg | 39 | 28 (72) | NR | Response (12 w) |
Articles containing both data on interventions and prognostic factors are shown in bold.
Studies are listed in alphabetical order; †mean, ‡median; #, & or ¥ multiple papers on partially the same cohort; *patients with first relapse analysed; †mean, ‡median; $number of patients with complete follow-up data depends on the outcome, £number of patients as reported in the study of Dasgupta et al.
Case–control (retro.), Case–control study with retrospective design; Control, control treatment; CRP, C-reactive protein; Cumul, cumulative; d, days; DB, double blind; Descript., description of symptoms and laboratory criteria defining PMR (no formal criteria used); Devel. GCA, development of giant cell arteritis during follow-up; Disc, discontinuation; dur., total duration of study; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; ETN, etanercept; Follow-up, length of follow-up; GC, glucocorticoid; GC-sides, glucocorticoid-related side effects; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; HealthC, healthcare resource use; IFX, infliximab; IMP, intramuscular methylprednisone; inc., increased; m, months; MTX, methotrexate; Mul., multicenter; No pt., number of patients; No, number of; NR; not reported; NSAIDs; non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; Obs. (prosp), observational prospective follow-up; OP, oral prednisone (equivalent); Outcome (time points), outcomes (out of the list of critical outcomes listed in online supplementary table S1) addressed in the corresponding study and the time points at which the outcome was investigated in parentheses; PICO, Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome (number of PICO question); PMR, polymyalgia rheumatica; PMR-AS, PMR activity score; PV, plasma viscosity; R, randomised; RS3PE, remitting seronegative symmetrical synovitis with pitting oedema; SF-36, short form 36 questionnaire; stiff, stiffness; Study ID, study identifier; sympt. Dur., symptom duration; varT, variable time point/no exact date reported; w, weeks; y, years.