Standardized treatment plans developed for new-onset JIA

(HealthDay) -- Four standardized consensus treatment plans (CTPs) have been developed for patients with new-onset systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), according to research published in the July issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

Esi Morgan Dewitt, M.D., of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, and colleagues administered case-based surveys to members of the Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) to identify prevailing treatments for new-onset systemic JIA. Follow-up surveys were used to refine the treatment plans and evaluate their clinical acceptability.

Based on the results of the initial survey the researchers identified considerable variability in the current treatment approaches used by clinicians for new-onset systemic JIA. Four different CTPs were developed for physicians to use during the first nine months of therapy. In addition, case definitions and schedules for clinical and laboratory monitoring were developed. The treatment plans, which consisted of glucocorticoid monotherapy or treatment with methotrexate, anakinra, or tocilizumab, with or without glucocorticoids, were approved by more than 78 percent of the CARRA membership.

"In conclusion, four standardized CTPs for new-onset systemic JIA were developed with the goal of reducing variation in care and to ultimately facilitate evaluation of the comparative effectiveness of these treatments," the authors write. "These plans were found to be acceptable to the majority of survey respondents who are members of CARRA."

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.