Original Articles
9 September 2016
Vol. 68 No. 2 (2016)
https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2016.872

Real-world experiences of folic acid supplementation (5 versus 30 mg/week) with methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a comparison study

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Folic acid, methotrexate, rheumatoid arthritis, disease activity score 28, treatment regimes.
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Authors

K.T. Koh
Department of Medicine, Miri Hospital, Sarawak, Malaysia.
C.L. Teh
tehchenglay@yahoo.com
Department of Medicine, Unit of Rheumatology, Sarawak General Hospital, Sarawak, Malaysia.
C.K. Cheah
Department of Medicine, Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban, NS, Malaysia.
G.R. Ling
Department of Medicine, Unit of Rheumatology, Sarawak General Hospital, Sarawak, Malaysia.
M.C. Yong
Department of Medicine, Unit of Rheumatology, Sarawak General Hospital, Sarawak, Malaysia.
H.C. Hong
Department of Medicine, Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban, NS, Malaysia.
S.C. Gun
Department of Medicine, Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital, Seremban, NS, Malaysia.
The objective of this study was to compare the tolerability of methotrexate in two different regimes of folic acid (FA) supplementation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We performed a multicenter, cross-sectional observational cohort study on 240 RA patients with 120 patients each in 5 mg of FA weekly and 30 mg of FA weekly supplementation. There were no significant differences for side effects (14.2 versus 22.5%, P=0.523) and discontinuation of methotrexate (3.6 versus 13.3%, P=0.085). RA patients given 5 mg of FA weekly supplementation had a lower disease activity score 28 compared to 30 mg of FA weekly supplementation [3.44 (1.10) versus 3.85 (1.40), P=0.014]. FA supplementation of 5 mg per week and 30 mg per week was associated with similar tolerability of methotrexate in RA patients.

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Real-world experiences of folic acid supplementation (5 versus 30 mg/week) with methotrexate in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a comparison study. (2016). Reumatismo, 68(2), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.4081/reumatismo.2016.872

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