RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 A systematic review and meta-analysis of efficacy and toxicity of disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs and biological agents for psoriatic arthritis
JF Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
JO Ann Rheum Dis
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and European League Against Rheumatism
SP 855
OP 859
DO 10.1136/ard.2007.072652
VO 67
IS 6
A1 V Ravindran
A1 D L Scott
A1 E H Choy
YR 2008
UL http://ard.bmj.com/content/67/6/855.abstract
AB Objective: Treatments for psoriatic arthritis (PsA) range from high-cost agents such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors evaluated in large randomised control trials (RCTs) and low-cost disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) studied in less detail. We compared their efficacy and toxicity in a systematic review.Methods: We searched Medline, PubMed and EmBase (1966–2006) for RCTs in PsA. We included RCTs that were randomised, placebo-controlled, in English, involved current treatments and only enrolled PsA patients. Efficacy was assessed by the numbers of patients withdrawn for lack of effect; toxicity by withdrawals for adverse events. RCTs were compared using risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).Results: We identified 32 potentially relevant RCTs; 14 were excluded because they involved unused agents, were unblinded, were not placebo-controlled and enrolled patients with other diseases. 18 studies were included in the meta-analysis assessing DMARD monotherapy (11), DMARD combinations (one), TNF inhibitors (five) and alefacept (one). Treatment was more effective than placebo (RR = 0.35; 95% CI 0.25, 0.49) but caused more toxicity (RR = 2.33; 95% CI 1.61, 3.37). There was evidence that gold, sulfasalazine, leflunomide and TNF inhibitors were effective; gold and TNF inhibitors showed the largest effect sizes; TNF inhibitors had the best efficacy/toxicity ratio (number needed to harm/number needed to treat = 0.25); tolerability was least with gold and leflunomide.Conclusions: Efficacy/toxicity ratios were highest with TNF inhibitors followed by leflunomide, gold and sulfasalazine. Gold, though effective, has excessive toxicity and sulfasalazine, though of low toxicity, was also relatively ineffective.