Short-term effectiveness of methotrexate in the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis

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