Abstract
Background: The study was based on the Danish DANBIO and the Norwegian NOR-DMARD databases. Objective: To investigate changes in prescription practice during the first 3 years of post-marketing use of...
Highlights
The study was based on the Danish DANBIO and the Norwegian NOR-disease modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) databases
The present analyses focused on patients who fulfilled the classification criteria of RA13 and started tumour necrosis factor (TNF) antagonists during the period 2000–2003
A high degree of similarity was seen in the demographic characteristics and disease activity measures of the two patient populations
Summary
Objective: To investigate changes in prescription practice during the first 3 years of post-marketing use of biological drugs, and to determine the proportion of patients who would not have received tumour necrosis factor (TNF) blocking agents if the prescription guidelines of the UK and the Netherlands had been applied. Methods: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving TNF blocking agents from Denmark (n = 823, median age 56.0, 72.2% women) and Norway (n = 371, median age 52.5, 75.4% women) were studied. 47.9% and 41.3% of the Norwegian and Danish patients, respectively, did not meet the UK criteria for using TNF blocking agents, and 10.5% and 5.7% did not meet the Dutch criteria. Conclusion: Danish and Norwegian prescription practices of biological treatments in RA were similar, and became less stringent from 2000 to 2003. Prescriptions agreed well with the Dutch guidelines, but almost half the patients did not meet the UK guidelines
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