Effectiveness of JAK Inhibitors Compared with Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs on Pain Reduction in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Results from a Nationwide Swedish Cohort Study
Arthritis Rheumatol. 2025;77:253–262 doi: 10.1002/art.43014.
Eberhard et al. investigated the effectiveness of JAKi versus bDMARDs on pain reduction in RA patients, using Swedish national register data. JAKi treatment resulted in a significantly greater reduction in pain at three months compared with TNFis, with a higher proportion achieving low pain at 12 months, particularly in those previously treated with multiple bDMARDs.
This retrospective cohort study analysed 8,430 RA patients who initiated JAKi, TNFi, IL-6i, abatacept, or rituximab between 2017 and 2019. Adjusting for demographics, disease activity, and treatment history, JAKi demonstrated at least comparable, if not superior, pain reduction benefits over bDMARDs, supporting their role in RA pain management.
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