Justin Cooper , 2025-05-13 09:30:00
Key takeaways:
- There were no significant differences in HAQ-DI or CHFS score change in patients treated with hydroxychloroquine.
- The question remains to be assessed in a randomized controlled trial.
Hydroxychloroquine appears to have no significant impact on functional disability or hand function among patients with systemic sclerosis, according to data published in Arthritis Research & Therapy.
“A consensus published in 2018 stated that about 27% of SSc experts used [hydroxychloroquine] to treat SSc inflammatory arthritis, although no proof of efficacy has been provided, and no randomized controlled trial was previously performed for this endpoint,” Silvia Bellando-Randone, PhD, of the University of Florence, in Italy, and colleagues wrote. “[Hydroxychloroquine’s] efficacy in SSc is controversial, with two small studies claiming efficacy and one study finding no positive effect.”
Data derived from Bellando-Randone S, et al. Arthritis Res Ther. 2025;doi:10.1186/s13075-025-03476-0.
To better understand how hydroxychloroquine impacts disability and hand function in SSc, Bellando-Randone and colleagues conducted a post-hoc analysis of data from the European Scleroderma Trials and Research (EUSTAR) database.
The analysis included 17,805 patients with SSc, 468 (2.6%) who were treated with hydroxychloroquine for at least 6 months (mean age, 51.7 years; 92% women). Patients treated with hydroxychloroquine were propensity score matched — based on demographics, disease duration and medications used — with three control patients who did not receive hydroxychloroquine.
The study assessed two patient-reported outcomes: disability, assessed via the Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI), and hand function, assessed via the Cochin Hand Function Scale (CHFS).
According to the researchers, 2.6% of patients with SSc used hydroxychloroquine. For up to 1 year, there were no statistically significant differences in HAQ-DI or CHFS score change between patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and those who were not. The mean estimated differences in slope between the two groups were –0.025 (standard error = 0.02; P = .24) for HAQ-DI and –0.58 (standard error = 0.5; P = .25) for CHFS.
“In the largest examination to date in this disease, using a cohort study design, we found that hydroxychloroquine does not affect HAQ-DI or CFHS, but it is used relatively infrequently in SSc,” Bellando-Randone and colleagues wrote. “A prospective, randomized, well-controlled trial is necessary to fully understand the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in SSc.”
For more information:
Healio Rheumatology can be reached at rheumatology@healio.com; X (Twitter): @HealioRheum.
Sources/Disclosures
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Disclosures:
Bellando-Randone reports no relevant financial disclosures. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.
