The operational definition of old age and impact on outcomes in disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD)-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic literature review
Authors' conclusion
Definitions of old(er) age vary across studies including RA patients. Old(er) age appears to affect DMARD safety and discontinuation.
Study context
- Population
- Studies conducting research in an old(er) rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient population324 studies
- Comparison
- Old vs young DMARD-treated RA patients
- Outcome
- Operational definitions of old(er) age in RA patients
Methodological detailsrandom effects meta-analyses, two independent reviewers for data extraction and risk of bias
- Random effects meta-analyses
- Two independent reviewers for data extraction and risk of bias
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Operational definition of old(er) age
- Range of old(er) age definitions
- 40.0 to 77.3 years
- Most frequent definition: 65
- 45.1 %
- Second most frequent: 60 years or older
- 20.4 %
- Studies reporting no reason for the age-threshold
- Fifty-eight percent
Further pooled results
| Outcome | Estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Reaching remission on DMARDs, old(er)vs young(er)n = 11 studies; no statistically significant difference | OR for reaching remission 0.76 (95 % CI 0.57–1.02) | |
| Drug discontinuation due to unfavourable eventsOLD(ER)vs YOUNG(ER)n = 25 studies | OR for drug discontinuation 1.12 (95 % CI 1.02–1.23) | |
| 0.512Ratio (log scale) |
Safety
| Outcome | OR (95 % CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| AEsOld(er)vs Young(er)n = 19 studies · experienced more often in old(er) patients | 1.33 (1.01–1.74) | |
| Drug discontinuation due to unfavourable eventsOld(er)vs Young(er)n = 25 studies · experienced more often in old(er) patients | 1.12 (1.02–1.23) | |
| 0.512Odds ratio (log scale) |
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
The operational definition of old age and impact on outcomes in DMARD-treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A systematic literature review. Semin Arthritis Rheum. Published 20 December 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →