Use of Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Medicines before and after Initiation of Biological Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 2

Analgesic or anti-inflammatory use pre and post biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARD) in people with rheumatoid arthritis.

Type of initiated bDMARD	Type of analgesics/anti-inflammatories	Month 12 pre index month (%)	Month 1 pre index month (%)	Month 1 post index month (%)	Month 12 post index month (%)	value^a(month 12 post to month 12 pre index)
TNFi	Any analgesic or anti-inflammatory	43	52	43	37	<0.0001
	Glucocorticoids	21	33	25	17	<0.0001
	Opioids	15	17	15	17	0.112
	NSAIDs	19	16	15	13	<0.0001
Non-TNF	Any analgesic or anti-inflammatory	52	63	58	42	<0.0001
	Glucocorticoids	32	39	34	19	<0.0001
	Opioids	20	25	22	20	0.694
	NSAIDs	16	20	18	16	0.664

Note. Index month is the month of bDAMRD initiation. ^aChi-square test was used to compare proportions. TNFi ⟶ tumor necrosis factor inhibitor. Non-TNF ⟶ on-tumor necrosis factor. NSAIDs ⟶ nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.