Escalation to Biologics After Methotrexate Among US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis Grouped by Rural Versus Urban Areas
An erratum to this article was published (Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken), Nov 2026 ↗)
Main finding · Biologic initiation within 2 years of MTXResult — go to the resultAdjusted hazard ratio 1.10 95% CI 1.02–1.18Authors' conclusion
Our study found only modest differences in the initiation of biologic therapies among rural- versus urban-residing veterans with RA in the VA health care system.
Study context
- Population
- Adult US veterans with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) receiving an initial prescription of MTX between 2005 and 2014 (88% male, 42% rural)3,259 (19%) initiated a biologic
- Participants
- 17,395 veterans
- Exposure
- Urban vs rural residence
- Outcome
- Time to biologic initiation within two years of starting MTX
- Follow-up
- 2 years
Methodological detailsnational US Veterans Affairs (VA) databases, multivariable Cox proportional hazards models
- National US VA databases
- Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models
Main finding
Biologic initiation within 2 years of MTX
Adjusted hazard ratio
1.10
95% CI 1.02–1.18
Urbanvs Rural
aHR 1.10 (95% CI 1.02–1.18)
As reported in the abstract
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Original publication
Escalation to Biologics After Methotrexate Among US Veterans With Rheumatoid Arthritis Grouped by Rural Versus Urban Areas. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). Published 28 November 2024. doi:10.
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