Longitudinal changes in patient characteristics as drivers of clinical outcomes in the Early Undifferentiated PolyArthritis (EUPA) cohort
Authors' conclusion
Compared with the INNOV period, patients recruited after 2011 presented with milder baseline characteristics and showed evidence for an amplified response to treatment during follow-up, contributing to higher remission rates. Nonetheless, improvements of function and other PROs remained similar across recruitment periods.
Study context
- Population
- Consecutive early RA patients in the EUPA cohort, assessed up to 5 yearsconsecutive early RA
- Participants
- 840 patients
- Exposure
- Early RA recruited in three periods: preBIO vs INNOV vs T2Tp
- preBIOn = 245
- INNOVn = 266reference
- T2Tpn = 329
- Outcome
- ACR/EULAR remission over follow-up
- Follow-up
- Up to 5 years
Methodological detailsinverse probability of treatment weighting, multivariate generalized estimating equations with repeated measures
- Inverse probability of treatment weighting
- Multivariate generalized estimating equations with repeated measures
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- Recruitment after 2011 remained strongly associated with faster and more prevalent ACR/EULAR remission after balancing baseline characteristics and accounting for changes in strategies
- Recruitment after 2011 not associated with erosive status over follow-up
- Improvement curves over 5 years for functional status and other patient-reported outcomes (PROs) unchanged across the three periods
- After inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW)
- Multivariable analyses
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Treatment over time
- Use of high-dose MTX and biologics markedly increased after 2005, remaining similar (MTX) or increasing slightly (biologics) in T2Tp vs INNOV
- Corticosteroid tapering accelerated and became more complete in T2Tp
Original publication
Longitudinal changes in patient characteristics as drivers of clinical outcomes in the Early Undifferentiated PolyArthritis (EUPA) cohort. Rheumatology (Oxford). Published 8 December 2025. doi:10.
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