Background And Objectives: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-inhibitors are used to treat psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but only a limited number of observational studies on this subject have been published thus far. The aim of this research was to analyze the effectiveness and drug survival of TNF-inhibitors in the treatment of PsA.
Methods: PsA patients identified from the National Register for Biologic Treatment in Finland (ROB-FIN) starting their first, second, or third TNF-inhibitor treatment between 2004 and 2014 were included.
Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the cost-effectiveness of biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) compared with conventional synthetic DMARDs (csDMARDs) for RA using real-world data from Finnish registers.
Methods: RA patients starting their first bDMARD and comparator patients using csDMARDs during 2007-11 were obtained from the National register of biologic treatments in Finland and the Jyväskylä Central Hospital patient records. Propensity score matching was applied to adjust for differences between bDMARD and csDMARD users.
Objective: The aim of this research was to describe the effectiveness and drug survival of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and to analyze the effect of concomitant treatment with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
Methods: Patients with AS identified from the National Register for Biologic Treatment in Finland starting their first TNF inhibitor treatment between July 2004 and December 2011 were included. Treatment response was measured as an improvement of 50% (or 20 mm) after 6 months of treatment onset compared to the baseline Bath AS Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) score.
Background And Objectives: Economic evaluations provide information to aid the optimal utilization of limited healthcare resources. Costs of biologics for Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are remarkably high, which makes these agents an important target for economic evaluations. This systematic review aims to identify existing studies examining the cost-effectiveness of biologics for RA, assess their quality and report their results systematically.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Because of the role of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in host defense, it was hypothesized that its inhibition might lead to an increased risk of malignancies and infections. The objective of our study was to assess the incidence of serious infections leading to hospitalization and malignancies among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving either TNF inhibitor or rituximab (RTX) therapy.
Methods: The study population was identified from the National Register for Biologic Treatment in Finland and the hospital records of Central Finland Central Hospital for conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (cDMARD) users.
Background: Development is ongoing to increase the serotype coverage of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. We report here the immunogenicity and safety of a new 11-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Pn-PD) in infants.
Methods: In a randomized, single blind study, 154 Finnish infants received 1 of 3 regimens: 4 doses of Pn-PD at 2, 4, 6 and 12-15 months; 3 doses of the Pn-PD at 2, 4 and 6 months and 1 dose of 23-valent polysaccharide vaccine (PncPS) at 12-15 months; or 3 doses of the hepatitis B vaccine at 2, 4 and 6 months and Pn-PD at 12-15 months.