P11 Etanercept persistence in juvenile idiopathic arthritis up to adult care in patients in Germany: a real-world analysis
Authors: Minden Kirsten , Horneff Gerd , Blum Andreas , Curiale Cinzia , Tarallo Miriam , Hudson Nicholas , Gray Christen M , Cappelleri Joseph C , Daly Ana Cristina Hernandez 
Published: September 2019

Background

Although juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) occurs early in life, patients can require long-term treatment into adulthood due to active disease or flares. However, most available studies show that there are gaps in care during and after the transition to adult care. Transition has been associated with higher dropout rates, and there is limited evidence on treatment persistence in JIA patients. The current analysis evaluates etanercept bio-original (ETNBo) persistence up to 5 years and reports diagnostic patterns in early adolescence and young adults in Germany.

Methods

Patients with JIA (ICD10: M08) between 2-30 years of age with a first recorded ETNBo prescription between 1-January-2008 and 31-December-2012 were retrospectively identified in German health insurance claims data. Patients were followed until 31-December-2015 or end-of-record, whichever came first. Index date was set at the first ETNBo prescription after a 12-month etanercept-free look-back period.

Patient characteristics, concomitant treatments and prior use of other biologic Disease-modifying antirheumatic Drugs (bDMARD) were evaluated in the 12-month look-back period. The 5-year etanercept treatment persistence, defined as median (95% confidence interval [CI]) months between the index date and a discontinuation (≥90-day treatment gap after last etanercept prescription), was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, overall and for bio-naïve patients. Etanercept WHO defined daily dose (DDD) was adjusted by age; for patients 2-6, 7-10, 11-14 and >15 daily doses were defined as 1.4mg, 3.6mg, 5.4mg and 7.0mg, respectively. The proportion of patients receiving an adult rheumatic diagnosis after the age of 11 was described.

Results

We identified 125 patients diagnosed with JIA (median age: 15 years; 30% male). At index quarter 56% of patients were in the 11-20 age group. Most patients (94%) were bio-naïve and 46%, 34%, and 17% had concomitant use of NSAIDS, other DMARDS, and corticosteroids, respectively. Overall median persistence was 13 months (95%CI: 10-16; IQR: 5-27). Persistence for the bio-naïve patients was 50% (95%CI: 41-57), 27% (95%CI: 20-34), 16% (95%CI: 10-23), 10% (95%CI: 5-17) and 9% (95%CI: 4-15) at 12, 24, 36, 48, and 60 months respectively.

The majority of patients (68%) received an additional diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis after age 11, while 15% were given other adult rheumatic diagnoses. Only 9% of JIA patients had received no additional diagnosis to JIA.

Conclusion

This analysis provides important understanding of care in young JIA patients. We observed a decreasing persistence of etanercept therapy as patients progressed in time through the transition period into early adulthood. Importantly, we found that the majority of JIA patients received additional adult diagnoses, which suggests the transition could impact on the clinical management of this disease. Diagnostic patterns, clinical and patient circumstances during this critical period and their impact on persistence requires further analysis.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.