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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has a major impact on patients (pts), particularly around quality of life and activity impairment. While the association between clinical manifestations and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) has been demonstrated, the independent effect of specific joint involvement on PROs and their change over time has not been fully elucidated. Objectives: To describe the independent effect of overall and specific joint involvement and their changes over time on PROs in pts with RA treated with abatacept. Methods: This post hoc analysis involved 290 adult RA pts initiated on treatment with abatacept in the Abatacept Best Care (ABC) study (NCT03274141)1. The analysis investigated the association of Tender Joint Count (TJC-28), Swollen Joint Count (SJC-28) and involvement (tender and/or swollen) of five joint groups (shoulder, knee, elbow, wrist, and hand) with changes from baseline (BL) to 12 months (12M) of follow-up in selected PROs: Pt Global Assessment (PtGA), Pt Pain, Pt Fatigue, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), Routine Assessment of Patient Index Data 3 (RAPID3), Work Productivity and Activity Impairment - Activity Impairment (WPAI-AI) score. Simple linear regression was used to test the association between BL and changes from BL to 12M in TJC and SJC with changes in each PRO at 12M. Multivariate linear regression adjusting for the five available joint groups examined the independent effect of BL and changes from BL to 12M in these joint groups on changes in each PRO at 12M. Results: Among 290 pts, the mean (SD) age was 60.1 (11.6) years, 73.8% were female, and the mean (SD) RA duration was 7.7 (9.0) years. Table 1 describes joint involvement (tender and/or swollen) at BL and the change from BL to 12M for 289 pts with 12M data. Mean (SD) TJC and SJC at BL were 9.6 (6.2) and 7.9 (4.7) and changes in TJC and SJC from BL to 12M were -6.3 (6.6) and -5.9 (5.2), respectively. BL TJC and SJC were not associated with changes in PROs from BL to 12M, whereas changes at 12M in TJC and SJC were significantly (PConclusion: For the majority of pts, specific joint involvement at BL was resolved by 12M of treatment with abatacept. Changes in PROs at 12M were associated with BL elbow involvement and 12M changes in elbow, hand, and knee involvement. These findings have potential implications for clinical practice and research by guiding the focus of evaluations and therapeutic targets. REFERENCES: 1 Bessette, L. et al. Effectiveness of a treat-to-target strategy in patients with moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis treated with abatacept. Arthritis Res Ther25, 183 (2023). https://doi.org:10.1186/s13075-023-03151-2 Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: Janet Pope consultant: AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Medexus, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Teva and UCB, grant/research support: AbbVie, Bristol Myers Squibb, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Seattle Genetics and UCB, John Sampalis employee of JSS Medical Research, the contract research organization that managed the study, Boulos Haraoui advisory board member and research grants from Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Fresenius Kabi, Lilly, Pfizer and UCB, Emmanouil Rampakakis employee of JSS Medical Research, the contract research organization that managed the study, Fiona Allum employee of JSS Medical Research, the contract research organization that managed the study, Marc Olivier Trepanier Employee of Bristol Myers Squibb and may hold stock or stock options, Employee of Bristol Myers Squibb, Louis Bessette speaker for Amgen, BMS, Janssen, UCB, AbbVie, Pfizer, Lilly, Novartis, Sanofi, Sandoz, Fresenius Kabi, Teva, Organon and JAMP Pharma, consultant for AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Gilead, Janssen, Medexus, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, Roche, Sandoz, Sanofi, Teva and UCB.
Pope et al. (Sat,) studied this question.