For women with RA, perimenopausal status is associated with reduced remission compared with premenopausal status, and sex hormone use is associated with higher remission, according to a study published in Rheumatology. Dala N. Daraghmeh, PhD-candidate, and colleagues pooled individual participant data from five phase 3 clinical trials in which patients with RA were treated with tocilizumab and/or conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti rheumatic drugs to examine whether factors influencing female sex hormones are associated with treatment efficacy. Data were included for 4,474 female participants, of whom 62.9%, 4.5%, 22.8%, and 9.2% were postmenopausal, early postmenopausal, premenopausal, and perimenopausal, respectively. Of these, 7.8%, 6.4%, 25.0%, and 11.4%, respectively, were taking exogenous sex hormones. Compared with premenopausal status, perimenopausal status was associated with reduced remission in the pooled analysis. Significantly higher remission was seen in association with sex hormone use
