Three and five year outcomes of an inception cohort of Australian children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Abstract

Aim: To describe the 3- and 5- year outcomes of an inception cohort of Australian children with JIA for whom 1-year outcomes have previously been published. Method(s): Data regarding clinical outcomes of the original cohort of 134 patients at 3 and 5 years was sought. Relevant clinical features and medication exposures entered prospectively into an electronic record were collected and analysed using descriptive statistics. Result(s): Data was available for 110 and 98 patients at 3 and 5 years, respectively. The proportion of patients with active joints progressively decreased from 34% at 12 months to 21% at 3 years and 16% at 5 years. Cumulative exposure to methotrexate increased between 3 and 5 years (75% to 80%), however, point prevalence use decreased (45% to 41%). Cumulative exposure and point prevalence use of bDMARDS both increased between 3 and 5 years; 30% to 42% and 29% to 33%, respectively. Thirty four percent of patients had inactive joint disease off medications at 5 years, which occurred most frequently in patients with sJIA and oligoarthritis,. Conclusion(s): Five-year outcomes of Australian children with JIA are excellent, with only a small minority having ongoing active joint disease at 5 years. bDMARDS play an increasing role in management over time, however, methotrexate use remains significant. A majority of children remain on medications at 5 years.