Adjusted hazard ratios† (95% CI) for anti-TNF therapy discontinuation (within each anti-TNF agent)
| DMARD co-therapy at baseline | Adjusted hazard ratios* (95% CI) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETN | INF | ADA | ||||||||||
| N | Overall stopping | Stopping owing to inefficacy | Stopping owing to adverse events | N | Overall stopping | Stopping owing to inefficacy | Stopping owing to adverse events | N | Overall stopping | Stopping owing to inefficacy | Stopping owing to adverse events | |
| MTX | Reference | |||||||||||
| None | 1921 | 1.27 (1.12 to 1.45) | 1.13 (0.92 to 1.38) | 1.51 (1.23 to 1.86) | 255 | 1.39 (1.17 to 1.63) | 1.17 (0.88 to 1.55) | 1.50 (1.18 to 1.90) | 1163 | 1.42 (1.25 to 1.61) | 1.50 (1.25 to 1.80) | 1.36 (1.11 to 1.67) |
| SSZ | 121 | 0.89 (0.64 to 1.24) | 0.8 (0.47 to 1.36) | 1.04 (0.63 to 1.70) | 28 | 1.42 (0.92 to 2.19) | 1.87 (1.02 to 3.42) | 0.79 (0.32 to 1.90) | 159 | 1.41 (1.11 to 1.80) | 1.57 (1.11 to 2.23) | 1.50 (1.02 to 2.19) |
| LEF | 244 | 1.27 (1.02 to 1.57) | 1.41 (1.03 to 1.92) | 1.34 (0.96 to 1.87) | 105 | 1.79 (1.43 to 2.26) | 2.17 (1.56 to 3.02) | 1.47 (1.00 to 2.15) | 261 | 1.31 (1.07 to 1.60) | 1.41 (1.06 to 1.90) | 1.25 (0.91 to 1.72) |
| MTX+SSZ | 221 | 0.64 (0.49 to 0.85) | 0.69 (0.46 to 1.05) | 0.55 (0.34 to 0.91) | 295 | 0.87 (0.73 to 1.04) | 0.99 (0.76 to 1.28) | 0.70 (0.51 to 0.95) | 368 | 0.72 (0.57 to 0.90) | 0.61 (0.43 to 0.85) | 0.82 (0.58 to 1.17) |
| MTX+HCQ | 91 | 0.97 (0.68 to 1.37) | 1.08 (0.66 to 1.76) | 1.07 (0.62 to 1.86) | 126 | 0.76 (0.58 to 0.98) | 0.82 (0.56 to 1.20) | 0.70 (0.46 to 1.08) | 148 | 0.77 (0.58 to 1.03) | 0.69 (0.45 to 1.07) | 0.94 (0.60 to 1.45) |
| MTX+SSZ+HCQ | 82 | 0.93 (0.64 to 1.35) | 0.86 (0.49 to 1.52) | 0.92 (0.49 to 1.71) | 139 | 0.75 (0.59 to 0.96) | 0.64 (0.43 to 0.96) | 0.88 (0.61 to 1.28) | 197 | 0.79 (0.60 to 1.05) | 0.81 (0.55 to 1.21) | 0.78 (0.49 to 1.24) |
↵* Adjusted for baseline age, gender, presence of comorbidities, current smoking, number of previous DMARDs, current steroids, disease duration, baseline DAS28 and baseline HAQ. All models additionally stratified by start year and anti-TNF agent.
ADA, adalimumab; DMARD, disease modifying antirheumatic drugs; ETN, etanercept; HCQ, hydroxychloroquine; INF, infliximab; LEF, leflunomide; MTX, methotrexate; N, number of patients; SSZ, sulfasalazine; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.