Abstract

Background: Primary and secondary non-response to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapy is common in patients with Crohn's disease (CD), yet limited research has compared the effectiveness of subsequent biological therapy.

Objective: We sought to compare the effectiveness of vedolizumab and ustekinumab in anti-TNF-experienced patients with CD, focusing on patient-prioritized patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Methods: We conducted a prospective, internet-based cohort study nested within IBD Partners. We identified anti-TNF-experienced patients initiating with CD vedolizumab or ustekinumab and analyzed PROs reported approximately 6 months later (minimum 4 months, maximum 10 months). Co-primary outcomes were Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) domains of Fatigue and Pain Interference. Secondary outcomes included patient-reported short Crohn's disease activity index (sCDAI), treatment persistence, and corticosteroid use. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to control for a number of potential confounders and incorporated into linear and logistic regression models for continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively.

Results: Overall, 141 vedolizumab and 219 ustekinumab initiators were included in our analysis. After adjustment, we found no differences between treatment groups in our primary outcomes of Pain Interference or Fatigue or the secondary outcome of sCDAI. However, vedolizumab was associated with lower treatment persistence (OR 0.4, 95% CI 0.2-0.6) and higher corticosteroid use at follow-up assessment (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.1-2.6).

Discussion: Among anti-TNF experienced patients with CD, Pain Interference or Fatigue was not significantly different 4-10 months after starting ustekinumab or vedolizumab. However, reduced steroid use and increased persistence suggest superiority of ustekinumab for non-PRO outcomes.

Keywords: Comparative effectiveness; Crohn’s disease; Patient-reported outcomes; Ustekinumab; Vedolizumab.

© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.