Treat-to-target Prednisolon Taper in Patients With Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Sponsor
Aarhus University Hospital (Other)
Overall Status
Recruiting
CT.gov ID
NCT05636501
Collaborator
Randers Regional Hospital (Other), Horsens Hospital (Other), Regionshospitalet Silkeborg (Other), Herning Hospital (Other), North Denmark Regional Hospital (Other), Aalborg University Hospital (Other), Hospital of South West Jutland (Other), Frederiksberg University Hospital (Other)
120
8
2
45.6
15
0.3

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) has an incidence of approximately 1000/10^6 for persons more than 50 years. Treatment with prednisolone carries several significant adverse effects, and it is therefore essential to taper prednisolone as fast as possible. Systematic treatment strategies (treat-to-target) is the most important improvement of disease management for other rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis in the last decades. Thus, the purpose is to investigate benefits and harms associated with a nurce led systematic prednisolone taper strategy at the department of rheumatology compared to individual treatment by discretion of the general practitioner. It is a 1-year open label randomised trial with a 1-year extension in 120 treatment naïve patients with PMR.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Other: Treat-to-target Prednisolone Taper
  • Other: Usual care
N/A

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
120 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Parallel Assignment
Masking:
None (Open Label)
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Official Title:
Dose Reduction and Discontinuation of Prednisolone Using Structured Treat-to-target Taper in Patients With Polymyalgia Rheumatica
Actual Study Start Date :
Jan 12, 2023
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Nov 1, 2025
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Nov 1, 2026

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Active Comparator: Treat-to-target Prednisolone Taper

Patients randomized to the "Treat-to-target" group is prescribed with a systematic prednisolone taper according to a specific scheme. The starting dose can be increased if remission is not reached initially or in case of relapse, folloved by taper according to the specific scheme. A nurse will make a minimum of 5 phone consultations the first year, and hereafter minimum every 3 months.

Other: Treat-to-target Prednisolone Taper
Systematic prednisolone taper

Placebo Comparator: Usual Care

Patients randomized to "usual care" are dismissed from the hospital after the diagnosis and the prednisolone taper are subsequently performed by discretion of the patient's general practitioner.

Other: Usual care
Prednisolone taper performed by discretion of the patient's general practitioner.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Proportion of patients in prednisolone free remission 52 weeks from baseline [52 weeks]

    Proportion of patients in prednisolone free remission 52 weeks from baseline

Secondary Outcome Measures

  1. Change in prednisolone dose from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Change in prednisolone dose from baseline to week 52. Key secondary.

  2. Proportion of GCA patients diagnosed during the first 52 weeks [52 weeks]

    Proportion of GCA patients diagnosed during the first 52 weeks. Key secondary

  3. Self-reported number of relapses during the first 52 weeks [52 weeks]

    Self-reported number of relapses during the first 52 weeks (assessed by increase in symptoms and an increase in prednisolone dosage). Key secondary

  4. Change in patient-reported global visual analogue scale (VAS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Change in patient-reported global VAS from baseline to week 52. Scale 0-10, 10 is worse. Key secondary

  5. Change in polymyalgia rheumatica activity score (PMR-AS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Change in PMR-AS from baseline to week 52. scale 0-indefinitely. High score is worse. Secondary

  6. Proportion of patients with an undiagnosed vasculitis assessed by ultrasound at week 52 Proportion of patients with an undiagnosed vasculitis assessed by ultrasound at week 52 [52 weeks]

    Proportion of patients with an undiagnosed vasculitis assessed by ultrasound at week 52. Secondary

  7. Changes in short form (SF)-36 mental component summary (MCS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in SF-36 MCS from baseline to week 52. Secondary

  8. Changes in short form (SF)-36 physical component summary (PCS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in SF-36 PCS from baseline to week 52. Secondary

  9. Changes in health assessment questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in HAQ-DI from baseline to week 52. High score is worse. Secondary

  10. Changes in patient reported polymyalgia rheumatica visual analog scale (PMR VAS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in patient reported PMR VAS from baseline to week 52. High score is worse. Secondary

  11. Changes in patient reported fatigue visal analog scale (VAS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in patient reported fatigue VAS from baseline to week 52. Higher is worse. Secondary

  12. Changes in patient reported stiffness visual analog scale (VAS) from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in patient reported stiffness VAS from baseline to week 52. Higher is worse. Secondary

  13. Changes in patient reported duration of morning stiffness from baseline to week 52 [52 weeks]

    Changes in patient reported duration of morning stiffness from baseline to week 52. Secondary

  14. Proportion of patients where baseline DXA scan are performed during the first 3 months after baseline visit [3 months]

    Proportion of patients where baseline DXA scan are performed during the first 3 months after baseline visit. Secondary

  15. Proportion of patients where HgbA1C blood samples are taken during the first 52 weeks [52 weeks]

    Proportion of patients where HgbA1C blood samples are taken during the first 52 weeks. Secondary

  16. Frequency of patient reported adverse effects and comorbidities related to prednisolone treatment after 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks [52 weeks]

    Frequency of patient reported adverse effects and comorbidities related to prednisolone treatment after 13, 26, 39 and 52 weeks. Secondary.

  17. Proportion of patients with patient reported infections during the first 52 weeks [52 weeks]

    Proportion of patients with patient reported infections during the first 52 weeks. Secondary.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
50 Years and Older
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Inclusion Criteria:
  • Patients newly diagnosed with PMR according to the EULAR criteria for PMR.

  • No sign of GCA on ultrasonography of the temporal and axillary arteries.

  • Age over 50 years.

  • Danish spoken and written language skills sufficient to fill out questionnaires.

Exclusion Criteria:
  • Peroral, intraarticular or intramuscular application of glucocorticoids within the last month.

  • Previous prednisolone treatment for GCA/PMR.

  • Unable to give consent.

  • Symptoms of GCA (newly onset-headache, tenderness of the temporal artery, jaw claudication, vision disturbances).

  • Active malignant cancers within the last 5 years (except basal cell carcinoma).

  • Other inflammatory rheumatic diseases (eg. rheumatoid arthritis, polymyositis, spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritits, gout).

  • Uncontrolled diseases (eg severe active asthma, cardiac disease with NYHA class IV)

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 Aalborg University Hospital Aalborg Denmark
2 Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Rheumatology Aarhus Denmark
3 Esbjerg Regional Hospital Esbjerg Denmark
4 Gødstrup Regional Hospital Herning Denmark
5 Hjørring Regional Hospital Hjørring Denmark
6 Horsens Regional Hospital Horsens Denmark
7 Randers Regional Hospital Randers Denmark
8 Silkeborg Regional Hospital Silkeborg Denmark

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • Aarhus University Hospital
  • Randers Regional Hospital
  • Horsens Hospital
  • Regionshospitalet Silkeborg
  • Herning Hospital
  • North Denmark Regional Hospital
  • Aalborg University Hospital
  • Hospital of South West Jutland
  • Frederiksberg University Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kresten Keller, Aarhus University Hospital

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.
Responsible Party:
Kresten Krarup Keller, MD associate professor, Aarhus University Hospital
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT05636501
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • T2T PMR
First Posted:
Dec 5, 2022
Last Update Posted:
Feb 1, 2023
Last Verified:
Jan 1, 2023
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
Yes
Plan to Share IPD:
Yes
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Feb 1, 2023