Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is a chronic, inflammatory rheumatic disease that has a highly variable disease course. Three biologic agents, adalimumab, etanercept, and infliximab, have been developed for the treatment of AS. We conducted three studies: 1) an exploratory analysis of a year-long longitudinal dataset to gain insight into the variability of disease activity, physical function, and well-being and to explore the relationship between these outcome measures; 2) a systematic review of the available evidence for the efficacy of biologic treatment; 3) a systematic review of potential adverse effects of this treatment. We found that repeated measures of disease activity, function and well-being fluctuate considerably between patients, with complex patterns occurring over time within patients. There was mostly high quality evidence that these biologics are efficacious against placebo. We did not find evidence of an increase in serious adverse events or serious infections from short-term randomized controlled trials.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:OOU-OLD./20093 |
| Date | 05 July 2011 |
| Creators | Maxwell, Lara J |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thèse / Thesis |
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