Risk of hospitalized infections in older elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis treated with tocilizumab or other biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs: Evaluation of data from a Japanese claims database

Objective: We compared the incidence rates of hospitalized infections (HIs) between tocilizumab (TCZ) and other biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) in adults aged ≥75 years with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: We used a Japanese claims database from Medical Data Vision Co., Ltd (Tokyo, Japan) to perform a retrospective longitudinal population-based study in patients with RA who were prescribed b/tsDMARDs between 2014 and 2019. We calculated adjusted risk ratios (aRRs) for HIs in three age groups (<65, ≥65 and <75, and ≥75 years).

Results: Of 5506 patients, 2265 (41.1%) were <65 years, 1709 (31.0%) were 65-74 years, and 1532 (27.8%) were ≥75 years. Crude incidence rates (/100 person-years) of HIs were 3.99, 7.27, and 10.77, respectively. In the oldest group, aRRs (95% confidence interval) for HIs (b/tsDMARDs versus TCZ) were as follows: etanercept, 2.40 (1.24-4.61); adalimumab, 1.90 (0.75-4.83); golimumab, 1.21 (0.66-2.23); and abatacept, 0.89 (0.49-1.62). In the other age groups, the noticeable difference was a lower aRR of etanercept versus TCZ in the youngest group (0.30, 0.11-0.85).

Conclusion: In patients with RA aged ≥75 years, b/tsDMARDs have a similar risk of HIs to tocilizumab except for etanercept.