Systematic review and network meta-analysis: effect of biologics on radiographic progression in rheumatoid arthritis
In this article, the authors discuss the comparative effectiveness of seven biologics on radiographic progression in rheumatoid arthritis. This research article was originally published in the Journal of Comparative Effectiveness Research.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a costly, debilitating chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that significantly reduces patients’ ability to work and decreases their quality of life if left untreated. Previous studies have examined the clinical, functional or structural efficacy of biologics in treating patients with RA; however, the comparative efficacy of biologics in inhibiting radiographic progression is still not fully understood.
In this research, researchers from Doctor Evidence (CA, USA) and AbbVie (IL, USA and Ludwigshafen, Germany) conducted a Bayesian network meta-analysis (NMA) of published clinical trial data to compare the 1-year adiographic efficacy of biologics and qualitatively reviewed radiographic data with 2—10 years of follow-up.