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

Abstract

BackgroundTo 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.MethodsData regarding clinical outcomes of the original cohort of 134 patients at 3 and 5 years were sought. Relevant clinical features and medication exposures entered prospectively into an electronic record were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics.ResultsData were 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%–80%), however, point prevalence use decreased (45%–41%). Cumulative exposure and point prevalence use of bDMARDS both increased between 3 and 5 years; 30%–42% and 29%–33%, respectively. Thirty‐five percent of patients had inactive joint disease off medications at 5 years, which occurred most frequently in patients with sJIA and oligoarthritis.ConclusionFive‐year outcomes of Australian children with JIA are good, 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.