Response to: “A somatization comorbidity phenotype impacts response to therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: post hoc results from the certolizumab pegol phase 4 PREDICT trial”

Excerpt

Curtis et al. report a post hoc analysis of data from the certolizumab pegol phase 4 clinical trial among rheumatoid arthritis patients [1], p. 4. They infer a “somatization comorbid phenotype” (SCP) among patients who, at intake, had (a) diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or neuropathic pain or (b) were receiving medication for such conditions. Notably, 43% of patients met the criteria. As the authors predict, these individuals were more likely to drop out and report adverse side effects and less likely to achieve low disease activity status. They conclude that SCP may mask the drug’s true effectiveness, and thus, they question whether to “include, identify, or stratify” these patients in future clinical trials. Their operationalization of SCP and resulting conclusion are seriously flawed. …