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Work loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab or TNF inhibitors : a nationwide direct drug-to-drug comparison

Bruze, Gustaf Magnus ; Frisell, Thomas ; Turesson, Carl LU ; Forsblad-D'Elia, Helena ; Soderling, Jonas ; Askling, Johan ; Neovius, Martin ; Alenius, Gerd Marie ; Baecklund, Eva and Chatzidionysiou, Katerina , et al. (2025) In RMD Open 11(1).
Abstract

Objective To compare work loss after starting tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We used data from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register to identify patients aged 19-62 years who were treated with TNFi (n=15 093), rituximab (n=2123), abatacept (n=1877) or tocilizumab (n=1720) between 2007 and 2020. Data on work loss (0-365 days per year) from sick leave and disability pension were retrieved from linkage to the Social Insurance Agency. Patients in the different treatment arms were balanced regarding baseline covariates using inverse probability weighting (IPTW). Results Work loss increased for patients with RA until drug treatment... (More)

Objective To compare work loss after starting tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We used data from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register to identify patients aged 19-62 years who were treated with TNFi (n=15 093), rituximab (n=2123), abatacept (n=1877) or tocilizumab (n=1720) between 2007 and 2020. Data on work loss (0-365 days per year) from sick leave and disability pension were retrieved from linkage to the Social Insurance Agency. Patients in the different treatment arms were balanced regarding baseline covariates using inverse probability weighting (IPTW). Results Work loss increased for patients with RA until drug treatment initiation, reached a peak in the month after treatment initiation and then levelled off. Following IPTW, at 3 years before starting the treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in the mean annual adjusted work loss days between rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab vs TNFi (mean difference vs TNFi: rituximab 1.1 days, 95% CI -4.5 to 6.7; abatacept 3.3, 95% CI -2.6 to 9.2; tocilizumab 1.2, 95% CI -4.9 to 7.3). At 3 years after starting the treatment (latest January 2021), there were also no statistically significant differences in the mean annual adjusted work loss days (mean difference: rituximab -4.8 days, 95% CI -11.3 to 1.7; abatacept 5.3, 95% CI -1.8 to 12.3; tocilizumab -0.6, 95% CI -7.7 to 6.5). Conclusions Taking channelling into account, patients with RA treated with TNFi, rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab had similar trajectories of work loss from sick leave and disability pension until treatment initiation, and similar trend breaks and plateau 3 years thereafter.

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publication status
published
subject
keywords
Biological Therapy, Economics, Rheumatoid Arthritis
in
RMD Open
volume
11
issue
1
article number
e004936
publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
external identifiers
  • pmid:39880409
  • scopus:85216967265
ISSN
2056-5933
DOI
10.1136/rmdopen-2024-004936
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7af3c7b0-4e42-4e3c-8de8-416412a8d9b8
date added to LUP
2025-04-02 13:38:33
date last changed
2025-06-11 18:36:43
@article{7af3c7b0-4e42-4e3c-8de8-416412a8d9b8,
  abstract     = {{<p>Objective To compare work loss after starting tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods We used data from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality Register to identify patients aged 19-62 years who were treated with TNFi (n=15 093), rituximab (n=2123), abatacept (n=1877) or tocilizumab (n=1720) between 2007 and 2020. Data on work loss (0-365 days per year) from sick leave and disability pension were retrieved from linkage to the Social Insurance Agency. Patients in the different treatment arms were balanced regarding baseline covariates using inverse probability weighting (IPTW). Results Work loss increased for patients with RA until drug treatment initiation, reached a peak in the month after treatment initiation and then levelled off. Following IPTW, at 3 years before starting the treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in the mean annual adjusted work loss days between rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab vs TNFi (mean difference vs TNFi: rituximab 1.1 days, 95% CI -4.5 to 6.7; abatacept 3.3, 95% CI -2.6 to 9.2; tocilizumab 1.2, 95% CI -4.9 to 7.3). At 3 years after starting the treatment (latest January 2021), there were also no statistically significant differences in the mean annual adjusted work loss days (mean difference: rituximab -4.8 days, 95% CI -11.3 to 1.7; abatacept 5.3, 95% CI -1.8 to 12.3; tocilizumab -0.6, 95% CI -7.7 to 6.5). Conclusions Taking channelling into account, patients with RA treated with TNFi, rituximab, abatacept or tocilizumab had similar trajectories of work loss from sick leave and disability pension until treatment initiation, and similar trend breaks and plateau 3 years thereafter.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bruze, Gustaf Magnus and Frisell, Thomas and Turesson, Carl and Forsblad-D'Elia, Helena and Soderling, Jonas and Askling, Johan and Neovius, Martin and Alenius, Gerd Marie and Baecklund, Eva and Chatzidionysiou, Katerina and Feltelius, Nils and Forsblad-D'Elia, Helena and Kastbom, Alf and Klareskog, Lars and Knight, Ann and Lindqvist, Elisabet and Lindström, Ul and Ljung, Lotta and Sjöwall, Christopher}},
  issn         = {{2056-5933}},
  keywords     = {{Biological Therapy; Economics; Rheumatoid Arthritis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BMJ Publishing Group}},
  series       = {{RMD Open}},
  title        = {{Work loss in patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab or TNF inhibitors : a nationwide direct drug-to-drug comparison}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2024-004936}},
  doi          = {{10.1136/rmdopen-2024-004936}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}