Comparative safety of infliximab and etanercept on the risk of serious infections: does the association vary by patient characteristics
Authors
Toh, SengweeLi, Lingling
Harrold, Leslie R.
Bayliss, Elizabeth A.
Curtis, Jeffrey R.
Liu, Liyan
Chen, Lang
Grijalva, Carlos G.
Herrinton, Lisa J.
UMass Chan Affiliations
Department of Medicine, Division of RheumatologyMeyers Primary Care Institute
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2012-05-01Keywords
Antibodies, MonoclonalAutoimmune Diseases
Immunoglobulin G
Infection
Health Services Research
Primary Care
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
PURPOSE: Infliximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-TNFalpha antibody, has been found to increase the risk of serious infections compared with the TNF receptor fusion protein etanercept in some studies. It is unclear whether the risk varies by patient characteristics. We conducted a study to address this question. METHODS: We identified members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California who initiated infliximab (n = 793) or etanercept (n = 2692) in 1997-2007. Using a Cox model, we estimated the propensity-score-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of serious infections requiring hospitalization or opportunistic infections comparing infliximab initiators to etanercept initiators. We tested whether the adjusted HR differed by age, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and smoking status. RESULTS: The crude incidence rate of serious infections per 100 person-years was 5.4 (95%CI: 3.8, 7.5) in patients (95%CI: 10.4, 23.4) in patients >/= 65 years during the first 3 months following treatment initiation. Compared with etanercept, the adjusted HR during this period was elevated for infliximab in patients (HR: 3.01; 95%CI: 1.49, 6.07), but not in those >/= 65 years (HR 0.94; 95%CI: 0.41, 2.13). Findings did not suggest that the HR varied by the other patient characteristics examined. CONCLUSIONS: An increased risk of serious infections associated with infliximab relative to etanercept did not appear to be modified by patients' sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, or smoking status. There was an indication that the increased risk might be limited to patients finding.Source
Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2012 May;21(5):524-34. doi: 10.1002/pds.3238. Epub 2012 Mar 13. Link to article on publisher's site
DOI
10.1002/pds.3238Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/37160PubMed ID
22411435Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1002/pds.3238