Table 1 Patients’ characteristics at baseline of the included population, stratified by the presence of multimorbidity according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index score

Age at the drug initiation, mean (SD)

56.0 (12.1)

65.1 (9.2)

55.1 (12.0)

 < 0.001

Disease duration, mean (SD)

7.3 (7.8)

10.3 (10.2)

7.0 (7.4)

 < 0.001

Sex (female)

860 (76.2%)

71 (67.6%)

789 (77.1%)

0.029

RF positive

843/1099 (74.9%)

77/99 (73.3%)

766/999 (75.0%)

0.250

ACPA positive

244/1063 (21.7%)

24/93 (22.9%)

220/970 (21.6%)

0.012

TJC

 - Mean (SD)

6.1 (5.7)

6.2 (5.5)

6.1 (5.8)

0.948

 - Median (IQR)

5.0 [2.0–8.0]

4.5 [2.0–8.5]

5.0 [2.0–8.0]

0.803

SJC

 - mean (SD)

4.2 (4.3)

5.9 (5.2)

4.0 (4.1)

 < 0.001

 - Median (IQR)

3.0 [1.0–6.0]

4.0 [2.0–8.0]

3.0 [1.0–5.0]

 < 0.001

PGH

 - Mean (SD)

5.8 (2.2)

5.6 (2.2)

5.9 (2.2)

0.382

 - Median (IQR)

6.0 [5.0–7.0]

6.0 [5.0–7.0]

6.0 [5.0–7.0]

0.401

ESR (mm/h)

 - Mean (SD)

28.9 (23.9)

41.7 (29.9)

27.6 (22.8)

 < 0.001

 - Median (IQR)

22.0 [11.0–40.0]

35.0 [17.0–59.0]

21.5 [10.0–38.0]

 < 0.001

CRP (mg/L)

 - Mean (SD)

7.6 (14.7)

13.5 (20.4)

7.1 (13.9)

 < 0.001

 - Median (IQR)

2.5 [0.7–8.1]

3.7 [1.3–20.2]

2.4 [0.7–7.8]

0.002

DAS28

 - Mean (SD)

4.6 (1.3)

5.0 (1.3)

4.6 (1.3)

0.002

 - Median (IQR)

4.6 [3.8–5.4]

5.1 [4.2–5.9]

4.6 [3.8–5.4]

Treatment

 - TNF inhibitors

693 (61.4%)

40 (38.1%)

653 (63.8%)

 < 0.001

 - IL6 inhibitors

106 (9.4%)

10 (9.5%)

96 (9.4%)

 - CD20 inhibitors

55 (4.9%)

12 (11.4%)

43 (4.2%)

 - JAK inhibitors

166 (14.7%)

19 (18.1%)

147 (14.4%)

 - CTLA4 inhibitors

105 (9.3%)

23 (21.9%)

82 (8.0%)

 - IL12/23 inhibitors

2 (0.2%)

1 (1.0%)

1 (0.1%)

 - IL1 inhibitors

1 (0.1%)

0 (0%)

1 (0.1%)

Charlson Comorbidity index (mean), median [IQR]

1.0 [1.0—1.0]

3.0 [3.0—4.0]

1.0 [1.0—1.0]

 < 0.001