The operational definition of old age and impact on outcomes in DMARD-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic literature review.

Objective: To systematically review operational definitions of old(er) age in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and investigate differences in disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) efficacy, safety and drug survival between young(er) and old(er) patients.

Methods: A systematic review was performed on studies conducting research in an old(er) RA patient population. Two reviewers independently performed data extraction and risk of bias assessment.