Amjad Taqweem, Ibrar Ahmed, Intekhab Alam, Zafar Ali, Nowsherwan, Amjad Mehboob.
Short-term effectiveness of methotrexate in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis.
J Postgrad Med Inst Jan ;24(4):252-8.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of 6-month treatment with methotrexate in a dose range of 5- 15mg once weekly in 103 patients with active rheumatoid arthritis. Methodology: This descriptive study was conducted in outpatient department of Medical B unit Lady Reading Hospital from October 2008 to August 2009 and included 103 active rheumatoid arthritis patients who received methotrexate in a dose range of 5-15mg once weekly for 6 months. The primary efficacy endpoint was a ?20% response according to the American College of Rheumatology response criteria 20 and disease activity score 28 after 6 months. Results: Female patients made up 51.5% of the study population while males were 48.5%. The mean age was 46.1 years and the mean disease duration was 10.90 ± 3.42 years. According to the disease activity score 28, 30.1% of patients had good while 38.8% had a moderate response. 31.1% were non-responders. Mean improvement in tender joint count were –8.3 ± 4.59(from baseline of 15.54 ± 5.85) and in swollen joint count were -7.37 ± 3.98 (from baseline of 10.59 ± 4.96). ESR improved to 15.24 ±10.42 from baseline of 58.7 ± 11.16 and physical global assessment improves to 34.42 ± 20.43 from baseline of 66.21 ± 10.58. At 6 months, the rate of American college of rheumatology response criteria 20 was 68.2%. Treatment related adverse events were reported in 27.2% of patients. Conclusions: The study showed a favorable effectiveness for methotrexate in a dose range of 7.5-15mg once weekly.

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