The Glucocorticoid Low-dose Outcome in RheumatoId Arthritis Study

NCT ID: NCT02585258

Last Updated: 2023-07-18

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE4
• Total Enrollment: 451 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-06-30
• Study Completion Date: 2020-12-31

Brief Summary

Comparing the cost-effectiveness and safety of additional low-dose glucocorticoid in treatment strategies for elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis:

The Glucocorticoid Low-dose Outcome in RheumatoId Arthritis Study (GLORIA)

Detailed Description

Rationale: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a condition with high impact both on the individual and society. In the context of comparing the effectiveness of existing healthcare interventions in the elderly, RA is a condition highly relevant to the community since it has a strongly negative impact on the quality of life of the individual, is particularly frequent in the elderly, and is associated with significant costs. RA management remains challenging: there is an urgent unmet medical and societal need for improved treatment strategies that are effective, safe and affordable. Evidence based information on the glucocorticoid (GC) harm/benefit balance will have a high impact on RA treatment strategies and on treatment strategies for the many other inflammatory disorders for which GCs are considered. The Glucocorticoid Low-dose Outcome in RheumatoId Arthritis Study (GLORIA) is a 5-year project funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Program, designed to address these needs.

Objective: The primary objectives of the GLORIA project are twofold:

1. To assess the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of low-dose GC therapy (5 mg/day) compared to placebo given for two years as co-treatment for elderly RA patients (≥ 65 years) in a pragmatic randomized trial;

2. To assess study medication adherence through a medication packaging solution, and test the effectiveness of smart device technology to improve adherence.

Other objectives of the GLORIA project are: to deliver an outcome prediction model for individual patient outcome, to tailor treatment strategies for elderly RA patients with comorbidities; and deliver data to support:

1. better guidelines on RA treatment in the elderly;

2. more accurate information for elderly RA patients, their physicians and researchers;

3. improved strategies for trial design and conduct in the elderly.

Study design: The GLORIA study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pragmatic multicenter clinical trial to assess the effectiveness and safety of a daily dose of 5 mg prednisolone or matching placebo in elderly RA patients. Patients will be randomized into two arms: the experimental arm (receiving prednisolone 5 mg/day) or the control arm (receiving placebo). The design emulates the routine care setting: eligibility criteria are very liberal, assessments and procedures are tailored to represent standard of care, and concurrent antirheumatic treatment is allowed next to the trial medication with minimal limitations. Furthermore, all patients will have an adherence monitoring device loaded into the cap of the drug bottle; adherence data will be monitored throughout the trial. In addition, to test the effect of adherence reminders, a substudy (another trial) will be nested in the main GLORIA trial.

Substudy design: The substudy is limited to patients with a smart device (smartphone, tablet, etc) who have completed at least 3 months of the main study on treatment. The experimental arm of the substudy will receive an application loaded onto their smart device that communicates with an adherence monitoring device loaded into the cap of the drug bottle and delivers reminders to improve adherence. The control arm of the substudy will not have this application and reminders. The substudy has a duration of three months.

Study population: Patients of 65 years of age and older with RA according to the 1987 or the 2010 classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR), requiring antirheumatic therapy because of inadequate disease control, as evidenced by a disease activity score of 28 joints calculated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28) ≥2.60.

Substudy population: Patients in the main study who have completed at least 3 months on treatment, in possession of and familiar with a smart device.

Intervention: In this two-armed clinical trial, patients will be randomized to either the experimental arm or the control arm. The experimental arm will receive prednisolone 5 mg/day added to existing antirheumatic treatment. The control arm will receive matching placebo added to existing antirheumatic treatment. Treatment duration is two years per patient. Subsequently, study drug is tapered in linear fashion to zero in 6 weeks by inserting increasing numbers of non-treatment days. Patients experiencing a flare at that time can restart open label prednisolone at the discretion of the treating rheumatologist.

Co-interventions: As part of standard of care all patients will receive Calcium 500 mg/Vitamin D3 800 IU. Besides the study medication, almost all treatment is allowed; both treatment for comorbidities, as well as antirheumatic treatment. This includes biologic and nonbiologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), short term oral or parental GCs for comorbidities and acetaminophen. However, it is advised not to start other antirheumatic therapy (DMARD, biologic) or give intra-articular or intramuscular GC injections, especially not in the first 3 months, but it is allowed if clinically judged as unavoidable. In such cases, preferred administration is at baseline.

Substudy intervention: All patients will have an adherence monitoring device loaded into the cap of the drug bottle that will be equipped with a wireless transmitter, which not only tracks adherence but can also communicate real time with a smart device of the patient (smartphone, tablet, etc.), through special software to remind patients of the time of medication. In the substudy, patients with a smart device will receive an application loaded on their smart device that communicates with the adherence monitoring device loaded into the cap of the drug bottle. The app sends a reminder message to the patient when it's time to take the medication and in case of non-adherence the app also sends an alert message to inform the patient he or she has forgotten to take the medication. Eligible patients will be randomized to either the experimental arm that receive reminders on their smart device, or to the control arm that will not receive reminders, for a period of 3 months.

Main study endpoints:

• To measure benefit, primary endpoints are a) signs and symptoms: the time-averaged mean value (estimated from linear mixed models) of the DAS28; b) damage progression: change from baseline after 2-years in total Sharp/van der Heijde damage score of hands and forefeet radiographs.
• To measure safety, the primary endpoint is the total number of patients experiencing at least one serious adverse event, or one clinical event related to the disease or its therapy.
• Other major outcomes are cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, and medication adherence.

Assessment takes place at varying intervals, and includes seven clinic visits and 3 assessments by telephone.

Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: GLORIA is a pragmatic trial, with measurements that are almost all part of standard of care, and therefore there are no additional risks associated with these measurements. However, the intervention in this trial is that patients are randomized to either standard of care with low-dose GCs or standard of care without low-dose GCs for a duration of two years. It is known that GCs have strong favorable effects on disease activity, of which patients randomised to the control arm (placebo) cannot benefit. However, side effects of GCs are known as well, and patients in the experimental arm (prednisone 5 mg/day) might suffer from them. Although side effects predominantly occur when GC are used in high doses for long periods of time, elderly are more likely to suffer from adverse effects of the disease and its therapy than younger patients. However, elderly are underrepresented or even excluded from many clinical trials, so it is difficult to estimate their risk: this forms the rationale for the trial. To reduce risks, participants are monitored and patients with a low probability of benefit and patients with a high probability of harm will be excluded from participation to this trial. For the substudy to measure adherence through an innovative application, no additional risks are expected: if the application appears to be successful, patients randomised to the intervention can only benefit from it since it improves their medication adherence; in case the application is not successful, for patients not randomised to the application or for patients without a smart device, no difference is expected with the 'normal' situation, in which patients do not have access to an adherence application.

Conditions

RheumatoId Arthritis

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: QUADRUPLE

Study Groups

prednisolone

prednisolone 5 mg per day

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Prednisolone

Intervention Type: DRUG

1 capsule containing a tablet of 5 mg prednisolone/ day

placebo

placebo capsules once per day

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type: DRUG

1 capsule containing a placebo tablet / day

Interventions

Prednisolone

1 capsule containing a tablet of 5 mg prednisolone/ day

Intervention Type: DRUG

Placebo

1 capsule containing a placebo tablet / day

Intervention Type: DRUG

Other Intervention Names

glucocorticoid; matching placebo

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

In order to be eligible to participate in this study, a subject must meet all of the following criteria:

• RA according to the 1987 or the 2010 classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) (Aletaha D et al, Ann Rheum Dis 2010;69:1580);
• inadequate disease control, as evidenced by a disease activity score of 28 joints calculated with erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28) ≥2.60;
• age ≥ 65 years.

Exclusion Criteria

A potential subject who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:

Lower probability of benefit:

• Change, stop or start of antirheumatic treatment in the last month prior to eligibility assessment, including methotrexate, sulfasalazine, hydroxychloroquine, leflunomide, azathioprine, intramuscular and oral gold, cyclosporine, biologic agents including anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF), anakinra, abatacept, rituximab, tocilizumab (temporary exclusion);
• Treatment with systemic GC: oral or parenteral GC with a cumulative prednisolone equivalent dose of 200 mg or higher in the last 3 months;
• Treatment with any GC (oral, intra-articular, intravenous or intramuscular) in the last 30 days (temporary exclusion);
• Note: as this is a pragmatic trial, patients who require start of (other) antirheumatic treatment at baseline or during the trial can still be eligible (see 7.1).

Higher probability of harm:

• Exposure to investigational therapy in the last three months;
• Current participation in another clinical trial;
• Major surgery, donation or loss of approximately 500 ml blood within 4 weeks prior to the screening visit (temporary exclusion)
• Absolute contraindication to low-dose prednisolone, as determined by the treating physician, such as: uncontrolled chronic infections, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis. When these conditions are under control (e.g. with antiosteoporosis drugs, antihypertensive drugs) these patients can enter;
• Absolute contraindication to Calcium and/or Vitamin D supplement as determined by the treating physician, such as: hyperparathyroidism (when insufficiently treated);
• Uncontrolled comorbid conditions, short life span, etc. as determined by the treating physician.

Difficulty to measure harm/benefit:

• Absolute indication to start with oral or intravenous GC, according to the treating physician;
• Inability to comply with medical instructions or inability to assess major outcomes at 6-monthly visits, in the assessment of the treating physician.

Subjects/patients not capable or willing to provide informed consent.

Substudy

Inability/difficulty to measure benefit:

• Not in the possession of a smart device;
• Premature discontinuation of study medication within or at 3 months of the main trial.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

European Commission

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Prof. dr. M. Boers

Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Maarten Boers, Prof. dr.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc

Locations

Charite

Berlin, , Germany

Facharztpraxis

Magdeburg, , Germany

Knappschaftsklinikum Saar

Püttlingen, , Germany

University of Debrecen

Debrecen, , Hungary

University of Genova

Genova, , Italy

Noordwest Ziekenhuis

Alkmaar, , Netherlands

Meander

Amersfoort, , Netherlands

VUmc

Amsterdam, , Netherlands

Gelre

Apeldoorn, , Netherlands

Groene Hart Ziekenhuis

Gouda, , Netherlands

UMCG

Groningen, , Netherlands

MCL

Leeuwarden, , Netherlands

LUMC

Leiden, , Netherlands

MC Zuiderzee

Lelystad, , Netherlands

MUMC

Maastricht, , Netherlands

Maasstad

Rotterdam, , Netherlands

Antonius Ziekenhuis

Sneek, , Netherlands

HAGA

The Hague, , Netherlands

UMC Utrecht

Utrecht, , Netherlands

VieCurie MC

Venlo, , Netherlands

CHU Coimbra

Coimbra, , Portugal

Hospital de Egas Moniz

Lisbon, , Portugal

Hospital de Santa Maria

Lisbon, , Portugal

Instituto Portugues de Reumatologia

Lisbon, , Portugal

Hospital de Ponte Lima

Ponte de Lima, , Portugal

Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy

Bucharest, , Romania

Carol Davila

Bucharest, , Romania

NURCH

Bratislava, , Slovakia

Countries

Germany; Hungary; Italy; Netherlands; Portugal; Romania; Slovakia

References

Palmowski Y, Buttgereit T, Dejaco C, Bijlsma JW, Matteson EL, Voshaar M, Boers M, Buttgereit F. "Official View" on Glucocorticoids in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review of International Guidelines and Consensus Statements. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017 Aug;69(8):1134-1141. doi: 10.1002/acr.23185. Epub 2017 Jul 10.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 28029750 (View on PubMed)

Palmowski Y, Buttgereit F, Boers M. Reply. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2019 Apr;71(4):577-578. doi: 10.1002/acr.23452. No abstract available.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29073333 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, Rasch LA, Klausch T, Bijlsma HWJ, Christensen R, Smulders YM, Ralston SH, Buttgereit F, Cutolo M, Da Silva JAP, Opris D, Rovensky J, Szamosi S, Middelink LM, Lems WF, Boers M. Harm, benefit and costs associated with low-dose glucocorticoids added to the treatment strategies for rheumatoid arthritis in elderly patients (GLORIA trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2018 Jan 25;19(1):67. doi: 10.1186/s13063-017-2396-3.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 29370811 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, Lems WF, Boers M. Outcome measures for adherence data from a medication event monitoring system: A literature review. J Clin Pharm Ther. 2019 Feb;44(1):1-5. doi: 10.1111/jcpt.12757. Epub 2018 Sep 1.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 30171815 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, Cutolo M, Bos R, Opris-Belinski D, Kok MR, Griep-Wentink HJRM, Klaasen R, Allaart CF, Bruyn GAW, Raterman HG, Voshaar MJH, Gomes N, Pinto RMA, Klausch LT, Lems WF, Boers M. Medication adherence in older people with rheumatoid arthritis is lower according to electronic monitoring than according to pill count. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Nov 3;60(11):5239-5246. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keab207.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 33682887 (View on PubMed)

Palmowski A, Nielsen SM, Buttgereit T, Palmowski Y, Boers M, Christensen R, Buttgereit F. Association Between Participant Retention and the Proportion of Included Elderly People in Rheumatology Trials: Results From a Series of Exploratory Meta-Regression Analyses. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2020 Oct;72(10):1490-1496. doi: 10.1002/acr.24051.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 31421022 (View on PubMed)

Palmowski A, Buttgereit T, Palmowski Y, Nielsen SM, Boers M, Christensen R, Buttgereit F. Applicability of trials in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of trial populations showing adequate proportion of women, but underrepresentation of elderly people. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2019 Jun;48(6):983-989. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2018.10.017. Epub 2018 Nov 2.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 30466715 (View on PubMed)

Palmowski A, Nielsen SM, Buttgereit T, Palmowski Y, Boers M, Christensen R, Buttgereit F. Glucocorticoid-trials in rheumatoid arthritis mostly study representative real-world patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2020 Dec;50(6):1400-1405. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2020.02.016. Epub 2020 Mar 2.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 32222381 (View on PubMed)

Forsat ND, Palmowski A, Palmowski Y, Boers M, Buttgereit F. Recruitment and Retention of Older People in Clinical Research: A Systematic Literature Review. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2020 Dec;68(12):2955-2963. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16875. Epub 2020 Oct 19.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 33075140 (View on PubMed)

Buttgereit T, Palmowski A, Forsat N, Boers M, Witham MD, Rodondi N, Moutzouri E, Navidad AJQ, Van't Hof AWJ, van der Worp B, Coll-Planas L, Voshaar M, de Wit M, da Silva J, Stegemann S, Bijlsma JW, Koeller M, Mooijaart S, Kearney PM, Buttgereit F. Barriers and potential solutions in the recruitment and retention of older patients in clinical trials-lessons learned from six large multicentre randomized controlled trials. Age Ageing. 2021 Nov 10;50(6):1988-1996. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afab147.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 34324628 (View on PubMed)

Santiago T, Voshaar M, de Wit M, Carvalho PD, Buttgereit F, Cutolo M, Paolino S, Castelar Pinheiro GR, Boers M, Da Silva JAP. Patients' and rheumatologists' perspectives on the efficacy and safety of low-dose glucocorticoids in rheumatoid arthritis-an international survey within the GLORIA study. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2021 Jul 1;60(7):3334-3342. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keaa785.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 33394036 (View on PubMed)

van der Heijde DM, van Leeuwen MA, van Riel PL, van de Putte LB. Radiographic progression on radiographs of hands and feet during the first 3 years of rheumatoid arthritis measured according to Sharp's method (van der Heijde modification). J Rheumatol. 1995 Sep;22(9):1792-6.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 8523365 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, Bos R, Buttgereit F, Guler-Yuksel M, Ionescu R, Kok MR, Lems WF, Micaelo M, Opris-Belinski D, Pusztai A, Santos E, Da Silva J, Szekanecz Z, Zeiner K, Zhang D, Boers M. Remarkable international variability in reasons for ineligibility and non-participation in the GLORIA trial. Scand J Rheumatol. 2019 Jul;48(4):340-341. doi: 10.1080/03009742.2018.1559880. Epub 2019 May 27. No abstract available.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 31132016 (View on PubMed)

Boers M, Hartman L, Opris-Belinski D, Bos R, Kok MR, Da Silva JA, Griep EN, Klaasen R, Allaart CF, Baudoin P, Raterman HG, Szekanecz Z, Buttgereit F, Masaryk P, Klausch LT, Paolino S, Schilder AM, Lems WF, Cutolo M; GLORIA Trial consortium. Low dose, add-on prednisolone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis aged 65+: the pragmatic randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled GLORIA trial. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 Jul;81(7):925-936. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-221957. Epub 2022 May 31.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 35641125 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, da Silva JAP, Buttgereit F, Cutolo M, Opris-Belinski D, Szekanecz Z, Masaryk P, Voshaar MJH, Heymans MW, Lems WF, van der Heijde DMFM, Boers M. Development of prediction models to select older RA patients with comorbidities for treatment with chronic low-dose glucocorticoids. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2023 May 2;62(5):1824-1833. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/keac547.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 36165675 (View on PubMed)

Hartman L, El Alili M, Cutolo M, Opris D, Da Silva J, Szekanecz Z, Buttgereit F, Masaryk P, Bos R, Kok MR, Paolino S, Coupe V, Lems WF, Boers M; GLORIA consortium. Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility of add-on, low-dose prednisolone in patients with rheumatoid arthritis aged 65+: The pragmatic, multicenter, placebo-controlled GLORIA trial. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2022 Dec;57:152109. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2022.152109. Epub 2022 Oct 21.

Reference Type: RESULT

PMID: 36335684 (View on PubMed)

Palmowski A, Nielsen SM, Boyadzhieva Z, Schneider A, Pankow A, Hartman L, Da Silva JAP, Kirwan J, Wassenberg S, Dejaco C, Christensen R, Boers M, Buttgereit F. Safety and efficacy associated with long-term low-dose glucocorticoids in rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2023 Aug 1;62(8):2652-2660. doi: 10.1093/rheumatology/kead088.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 36810945 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Related Links

https://www.das-score.nl/en/

description of DAS28 score instrument

Other Identifiers

VUMC-ARC-GLORIA

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id