Etanercept‐Methotrexate Combination Therapy Initiators Have Greater Adherence and Persistence Than Triple Therapy Initiators With Rheumatoid Arthritis

OBJECTIVE To estimate adherence and persistence with etanercept plus methotrexate (ETN-MTX) combination therapy and MTX, hydroxychloroquine, and sulfasalazine triple therapy at 1 year following treatment initiation in adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS This retrospective analysis used data from the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Supplemental databases from January 2009 to July 2013. Adherence was defined as having percentage of days covered >80% for all drugs within each regimen. Persistence was defined as no treatment gap >45 days for any drug and no addition or switching to other disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs. Multiple logistic regression models were employed in the analyses to control for potential confounders. RESULTS A total of 3,724 ETN-MTX patients and 818 triple therapy patients were eligible. At 1 year, 27.9% who were taking ETN-MTX and 18.2% using triple therapy were adherent to all agents in their regimen (P < 0.0001), and 29.4% who were taking ETN-MTX and 23.2% using triple therapy were persistent (P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounders, ETN-MTX patients had significantly greater odds of being adherent (odds ratio [OR] 1.79, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.47-2.17) and persistent (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.20-1.72) compared with patients using triple therapy. CONCLUSION Patients with RA initiating treatment with ETN-MTX combination therapy demonstrated greater adherence and persistence at 1 year than patients initiating triple therapy.