ATLANTA — Biologic DMARDs were as efficacious among patients with rheumatoid arthritis aged 60 years and older at disease onset as it was among younger patients, with comparable rates of drug maintenance and adverse event discontinuation between the two groups, according to findings presented at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting.

“Elderly-onset patients with RA can present with higher disease activity and increased disabilities as compared to young-onset RA patients,” Sadao Jinno, MD, MSc, instructor of rheumatology at Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan, said during a press conference. “Also, prior studies show that [elderly patients] receive biologics less frequently than those with young-onset RA. This could be an issue for some of the patients with elderly-onset RA because they can have some problems with daily activity functions — they may not get biologics at the right time — and the dysfunction can worsen.”