Arthritis care & research
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Arthritis care & research · May 2015
Comparative StudyRheumatoid arthritis is associated with higher ninety-day hospital readmission rates compared to osteoarthritis after hip or knee arthroplasty: a cohort study.
To examine whether an underlying diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or osteoarthritis (OA) impacts the 90-day readmission rates after total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). ⋯ RA is a risk factor for 90-day readmission after primary THA or TKA. An increasing risk of readmissions noted in RA in 2011 is concerning and indicates that further studies should examine the reasons for this increasing trend.
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Arthritis care & research · May 2015
Comparative StudyImpact of biologic agents with and without concomitant methotrexate and at reduced doses in older rheumatoid arthritis patients.
To examine whether concomitant methotrexate (MTX) use is associated with better biologic persistence and whether self-administered anti-tumor necrosis factor (anti-TNF) therapies are used at reduced doses in real-world clinical care settings, not just clinical trials. ⋯ In real-world practice, concomitant MTX was associated with improved persistence on biologic therapy, especially for infliximab users; reduced-dose injectable anti-TNF therapy was used by a substantial proportion of RA patients.