ABSTRACT
Objective To evaluate the safety and drug adherence of tocilizumab(TCZ)in patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis(RA)in routine clinical practice. Methods This 24 week single center observational study recruited patients with moderate to severe RA. Therapy adherence rate was calculated by actual dosing/expected dosing×100%. Efficacy end points included physician global assessment of disease activity(PGA),patient global assessment of disease activity(PtGA),28-joint disease activity score(DAS28)and so on. Safety was evaluated by recorded adverse events (AEs). Results Sixty patients were enrolled with a mean (SD) treatment adherence of (67±27)%. PGA, PtGA, pain assessment (VAS), TJC and SJC all decreased during this study. At the 12th week, 25%(6/24) and 29%(7/24) of the patients achieved DAS28 remission and EULAR good response,respectively.Eighteen AEs were recorded,of which only 2 were severe AEs(SAEs)and neither was related to TCZ. Conclusion TCZ is a highly safe treatment for decreasing disease activity in patients with moderate to severe RA in China.However,drug adherence still need to be improved.