TY - JOUR AU - Navarro Coy, Nuria C. AU - Brown, Sarah AU - Bosworth, Ailsa AU - Davies, Claire T. AU - Emery, Paul AU - Everett, Colin C. AU - Fernandez, Catherine AU - Gray, Janine C. AU - Hartley, Suzanne AU - Hulme, Claire AU - Keenan, Anne-Maree AU - McCabe, Christopher AU - Redmond, Anthony AU - Reynolds, Catherine AU - Scott, David AU - Sharples, Linda D. AU - Pavitt, Sue AU - Buch, Maya H. PY - 2014 DA - 2014/12/23 TI - The 'Switch’ study protocol: a randomised-controlled trial of switching to an alternative tumour-necrosis factor (TNF)-inhibitor drug or abatacept or rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have failed an initial TNF-inhibitor drug JO - BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders SP - 452 VL - 15 IS - 1 AB - Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, affecting approximately 1% of the UK adult population. Patients suffer considerable pain, stiffness and swelling and can sustain various degrees of joint destruction, deformity, and significant functional decline. In addition, the economic burden due to hospitalisation and loss of employment is considerable, with over 50% of patients being work-disabled within 10 years of diagnosis. Despite several biologic disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARD) now available, there is a lack of data to guide biologic sequencing. In the UK, second-line biologic treatment is restricted to a single option, rituximab. The aim of the SWITCH trial is to establish whether an alternative-mechanism-TNF-inhibitor (TNFi) or abatacept are as effective as rituximab in patients with RA who have failed an initial TNFi drug. SN - 1471-2474 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2474-15-452 DO - 10.1186/1471-2474-15-452 ID - Navarro Coy2014 ER -