Effectiveness of Adalimumab Biosimilars and Originator for Psoriasis.

Importance: The uncertainties about the real-world effectiveness of adalimumab biosimilars limit their widespread adoption for psoriasis.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of adalimumab biosimilars Amjevita and Imraldi with Humira for psoriasis.

Design, Setting, And Participants: An emulation of 2 targeted pragmatic clinical trials was conducted using data from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR), a prospective pharmacovigilance registry tracking individuals receiving biologic and conventional systemic treatments for psoriasis in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

Drug Survival and Safety of Biosimilars Compared with Originator Adalimumab for Psoriasis: A Multinational Cohort Study.

Background: The lack of evidence under routine clinical settings limited the widespread adoption of adalimumab biosimilars for psoriasis treatment.

Objective: This study compared the drug survival and safety of adalimumab biosimilars to Humira for psoriasis treatment.

Methods: We conducted a prevalent new-user cohort study using data from the French National Health Data System (SNDS), the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR), and the Spanish Registry of Systemic Therapy in Psoriasis (BIOBADADERM).

Use of over-the-counter supplements, sleep aids and analgesic medicines in rheumatology: results of a cross-sectional survey.

Objectives: Pain, fatigue and sleep disturbances are common symptoms in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) that may prompt the use of over-the-counter (OTC) supplements, sleep aids and analgesics as self-management strategies. This study evaluated the prevalence of OTC supplements, sleep aids and pain relievers and the financial burden associated with their use in rheumatology.

Methods: A web-based survey developed with patients was administered in rheumatology clinics in an English hospital.

Potential impact of European Medicines Agency measures to minimize risk of serious side effects on JAKi prescribing and utilization in the UK.

Objective: Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKis) or targeted synthetic (ts) disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) effectively treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, due to safety concerns, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) published risk-minimization measures limiting JAKi prescription to certain at-risk patients unless no suitable alternative is available. This analysis included patients who had started their first-ever JAKi (before EMA measures were published) in a large national cohort study to investigate the potential impact of these measures on JAKi prescribing and utilization in the UK.

Early infection risk in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus treated with rituximab or belimumab from the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group Biologics Register (BILAG-BR): a prospective longitudinal study.

Background: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are at an increased risk of infection relative to the general population. We aimed to describe the frequency and risk factors for serious infections in patients with moderate-to-severe SLE treated with rituximab, belimumab, and standard of care therapies in a large national observational cohort.

Methods: The British Isles Lupus Assessment Group Biologics Register (BILAG-BR) is a UK-based prospective register of patients with SLE.

The Impact of Frailty and Deprivation on the Likelihood of Receiving Primary Total Hip and Knee Arthroplasty among People with Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis.

Background: Among people with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA), increasing deprivation is associated with reduced likelihood of receiving hip and knee arthroplasty (THA, TKA).

Objectives: To assess whether higher levels of frailty in the most deprived neighbourhoods explains the association between greater neighbourhood deprivation and reduced likelihood of receiving THA and TKA among people with hip and knee OA.

Design: Longitudinal cohort study.

Outcomes following switching from etanercept originator to etanercept biosimilar in 1024 patients with RA: a matched-analysis of the BSRBR-RA.

Objectives: Adults with RA are being switched from etanercept originator to biosimilar in non-medical/cost-saving switching. This analysis aims to investigate outcomes in these patients, including (i) drug survival and (ii) disease activity at 6 months and 12 months, compared with those who remain on the originator.

Methods: Using BSRBR-RA, those who switched directly from etanercept originator to biosimilar were identified and matched to patients receiving the originator, based on gender, age, disease duration and originator start year.

Trends for opioid prescribing and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases between 2006 and 2021.

Objective: To investigate opioid prescribing trends and assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on opioid prescribing in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs).

Methods: Adult patients with RA, PsA, axial spondyloarthritis (AxSpA), SLE, OA and FM with opioid prescriptions between 1 January 2006 and 31 August 2021 without cancer in UK primary care were included. Age- and gender-standardized yearly rates of new and prevalent opioid users were calculated between 2006 and 2021.

BayesGmed: An R-package for Bayesian causal mediation analysis.

Background: The past decade has seen an explosion of research in causal mediation analysis. However, most analytic tools developed so far rely on frequentist methods which may not be robust in the case of small sample sizes. In this paper, we propose a Bayesian approach for causal mediation analysis based on Bayesian g-formula, which will overcome the limitations of the frequentist methods.

Modelling and classifying joint trajectories of self-reported mood and pain in a large cohort study.

It is well-known that mood and pain interact with each other, however individual-level variability in this relationship has been less well quantified than overall associations between low mood and pain. Here, we leverage the possibilities presented by mobile health data, in particular the "Cloudy with a Chance of Pain" study, which collected longitudinal data from the residents of the UK with chronic pain conditions. Participants used an App to record self-reported measures of factors including mood, pain and sleep quality.

Etanercept originator versus etanercept biosimilar for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis as a first biologic: results from the BSRBR-RA.

Objectives: Etanercept biosimilars show comparable efficacy to their originators among biologic-naïve patients with RA in randomized controlled trials. Nationwide guidelines have obligated prescribing of etanercept biosimilars from 2016, resulting in significant cost savings. This analysis aimed to compare the effectiveness of etanercept originator vs etanercept biosimilar amongst biologic-naïve RA patients treated in routine clinical practice in the UK.

Day-to-day variability of knee pain and the relationship with physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis: an observational, feasibility study using consumer smartwatches.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of using smartwatches in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) to determine the day-to-day variability of pain and the relationship between daily pain and step count.

Design: Observational, feasibility study.

Setting: In July 2017, the study was advertised in newspapers, magazines and, on social media.

Effectiveness and persistence of acitretin, ciclosporin, fumaric acid esters and methotrexate for patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis: a cohort study from BADBIR.

Background: Real-world data evaluating effectiveness and persistence of systemic therapies for patients with psoriasis are limited. Objectives To determine the effectiveness and persistence of acitretin, ciclosporin, fumaric acid esters (FAEs) and methotrexate in patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis.

Methods: Data from the British Association of Dermatologists Biologics and Immunomodulators Register (BADBIR), a prospective, multicentre pharmacovigilance register of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis receiving biologic and/or conventional systemic therapies, were analysed.

"Take up to eight tablets per day": Incorporating free-text medication instructions into a transparent and reproducible process for preparing drug exposure data for pharmacoepidemiology.

Purpose: Routinely collected prescription data provides drug exposure information for pharmacoepidemiology, informing start/stop dates and dosage. Prescribing information includes structured data and unstructured free-text instructions, which can include inherent variability, such as "one to two tablets up to four times a day". Preparing drug exposure data from raw prescriptions to a research ready dataset is rarely fully reported, yet assumptions have considerable implications for pharmacoepidemiology.

The impact of frailty on patient-reported outcomes following hip and knee arthroplasty.

Aim: to determine the impact of frailty on patient-reported outcomes following hip and knee arthroplasty.

Methods: we used linked primary and secondary care electronic health records. Frailty was assessed using the electronic frailty index (categorised: fit, mild, moderate, severe frailty).

Very large fluxes of methane measured above Bolivian seasonal wetlands.

Methane (CH) mole fractions from the large semiseasonal Llanos de Moxos wetlands (∼70,000 km) in northern Bolivia were measured by aircraft flights and ground sampling during early March 2019 (late wet season). Daily fluxes of CH determined from the measurements using box models and inverse modeling were between 168 (± 50) and 456 (± 145) mg CH⋅m⋅d for the areas overflown, very high compared with those of previous Amazon basin studies. If the seasonality of the CH emissions is comparable to other parts of the Amazon Basin, the region could contribute as much as 8% of annual Amazonian CH emissions.

The impact of frailty on short-term mortality following primary total hip and knee arthroplasty due to osteoarthritis.

Background: We determined the association between frailty and short-term mortality following total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) for osteoarthritis and also the impact of THA/TKA on short-term mortality compared with a control population.

Methods: Frailty was assessed using a frailty index (categorised: fit, mild, moderate, severe frailty). The association between frailty and short-term mortality following THA/TKA was assessed using Cox regression.