Key clinical point: Frailty is a significant contributing factor leading to methotrexate discontinuation due to adverse events in long-term pretreated patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Major finding: Overall, 7.4% of the patients discontinued methotrexate due to adverse events during 2 years of follow-up, with methotrexate retention being significantly lower among patients with vs without frailty ( P < .05) and frailty being a significant factor contributing to methotrexate discontinuation (adjusted hazard ratio 2.34; 95% CI 1.02-5.37).
Study details: This retrospective longitudinal study included 323 patients with RA who used methotrexate at baseline.
Disclosures: This study did not declare the funding source. The authors did not report conflicts of interest.
Source: Sobue Y et al. Relationship between frailty and methotrexate discontinuation due to adverse events in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Clin Rheumatol. 2023 (May 22). doi: 10.1007/s10067-023-06639-z