Work disability remains a major problem in rheumatoid arthritis in the 2000s: data from 32 countries in the QUEST-RA Study

Table 1 Patient and disease characteristics in 8,039 patients in the QUEST-RA study in countries with a high (>24K USD) or low (<11K USD) GDP

	All patients
		Countries
	Total	High-GDP	Low-GDP	P value^a
Number	8,039	4,235	3,804
Patient characteristics
Female, percentage	80%	76%	85%	< 0.001
Age in years, mean	55	58	52	< 0.001
Disease duration in years, mean	11	11	11	NS
Rheumatoid factor-positive, percentage	75%	73%	77%	< 0.001
Erosive disease, percentage	63%	59%	67%	< 0.001
Disease activity measures
DAS28 (0 to 9.1), mean	4.4	3.7	5.2	< 0.001
ESR, median	25	18	33	< 0.001
SJC (0 to 28), median	2	1	4	< 0.001
TJC (0 to 28), median	4	2	9	< 0.001
Physician global (0 to 10), median	2.5	1.7	3.9	< 0.001
Patient self-report
HAQ physical function (0 to 3), median	0.88	0.75	1.3	< 0.001
Pain VAS (0 to 10), median	4.1	3.2	4.7	< 0.001
Patient global VAS (0 to 10), median	4.2	3.2	4.8	< 0.001
Fatigue VAS (0 to 10), median	4.5	3.8	5.0	< 0.001
Psychological HAQ (0 to 3), mean	0.84	0.73	0.99	< 0.001
Treatment-related variables
Number of DMARDs ever taken, mean	2.7	2.8	2.5	< 0.001
Biologics ever, percentage of patients	23%	31%	9.4%	< 0.001

^aUnadjusted P values are presented. DAS28, disease activity score using 28 joint counts; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; GDP, gross domestic product; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; NS, not significant; QUEST-RA, Quantitative Standard Monitoring of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis; SJC, swollen joint count; TJC, tender joint count; USD, US dollars; VAS, visual analog scale.

ISSN: 1478-6362