To evaluate the improvement of health status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treated with tocilizumab.
Thirty-nine patients were treated with 8 mg/kg tocilizumab every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. Disease activity was assessed by Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) and Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI). Improvement of health status was assessed by Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale 2 (AIMS-2) and Short Form-36 (SF-36).
Tocilizumab improved CDAI and SDAI significantly at week 4 compared with at baseline. In the components of AIMS-2, "physical score", "symptom" and "affect" improved significantly at week 4 compared with at baseline, while "social interaction" did not improve significantly during 24 weeks of tocilizumab therapy. Similarly in SF-36, "bodily pain", "general health", "vitality" and "mental health" improved significantly at week 4. The most correlative component of AIMS-2 with CDAI was "symptom", while "social interaction" did not correlate with CDAI during tocilizumab treatment.
The time-course diversity in improvement of health status should be considered to provide proper healthcare when treated with tocilizumab.