Publications by authors named "Herman L M Brus"
Objective: Reduced work participation (WP) is a common problem for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and generates high costs for society. Therefore, it is important to explore determinants of WP at the start of tumor necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) treatment, and for changes in WP after 2 years of TNFi treatment.
Methods: Within the Dutch Rheumatoid Arthritis Monitoring (DREAM) biologic register, WP data were available from 508 patients with RA younger than 65 years and without an (early) retirement pension.
Objective: The use of TNF inhibitors leads to an increased risk of serious infections in RA. Predicting this risk would facilitate the prevention of serious infections. The objective of this study was to identify which factors are predictive of the increased risk of serious infections in RA patients treated with TNF inhibiting therapy.
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- The study analyzed data from 512 newly diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to evaluate the relationship between the patient global assessment (PGA) score and their clinical disease state, finding that only about 20% met the ACR/EULAR criteria for remission.
- Despite fulfilling other clinical criteria, 21% of patients had a PGA score greater than 1, indicating that their subjective assessment of health was not aligned with objective measures of disease activity.
- The findings suggest that the PGA may not accurately reflect disease activity alone, highlighting the need for careful interpretation when using the ACR/EULAR definition of remission in RA patients.
Objective: To compare the effectiveness of a third tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α)-blocking agent with rituximab after failure of 2 TNF-blocking agents in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in daily clinical practice.
Methods: Patients receiving a third TNF-blocking agent or rituximab after failure of 2 TNF-blocking agents were selected from a Dutch biologic registry. The primary outcome was the results from the Disease Activity Score of 28 joints (DAS28) over the first 12 months after start of the third biologic using mixed-model analyses.
Objective: Clinical remission is the ultimate therapeutic goal in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Although clinical trials have proven this to be a realistic goal, the concept of targeting at remission has not yet been implemented. The objective of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a treat-to-target strategy aimed at achieving remission in very early RA in daily clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To investigate whether the reason for discontinuation of the first tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocking agent influences the effect of a second TNF blocking agent.
Methods: Data were used from 2 Dutch registries including patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with TNF blocking agents. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on reason for discontinuation of the first: nonresponse, loss of response, or adverse events.