Drug Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Comparative Effectiveness. Clinician Research Summary.

摘要

In response to a request from the public to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) concerning the expanding use of disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a systematic review was undertaken to review the effectiveness and safety of the oral and biologic DMARDs. This summary is based on a systematic review prepared as an update to a review published in 2007. In addition to the material reported in 2007, this update includes articles published after the 2007 report and before January 2011 (a total of 211 studies). This summary, based on the full report of research evidence, is provided to clinicians to inform discussions of options with patients and to assist in decisionmaking along with consideration of a patients values and preferences. Reviews of evidence should not be construed to represent clinical recommendations or guidelines.