Recommendations for the use of biologic therapy in rheumatoid arthritis: update from the Italian Society for Rheumatology I. Efficacy.

Given the availability of novel biologic agents for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), various national scientific societies have developed specific recommendations in order to assist rheumatologists in prescribing these drugs. The Italian Society for Rheumatology (Società Italiana di Reumatologia, SIR) decided to update its recommendations and, to this end, a systematic literature review was carried out and the evidence derived from it was discussed and summarised as expert opinions. Levels of evidence, strength of recommendations and levels of agreement were reported. The recommendations reported are intended to help prescribing rheumatologists to optimise the use of biologic agents in patients with RA seen in everyday practice; they are not to be considered as a regulatory rule.