Time to achieve remission determines time to be in remission

Table 4 Relationship between time-to-remission and sustained remission

	All patients (n = 753)	1985-1990 (n = 147)	1991-1995 (n = 158)	1996-2000 (n = 219)	2001-2005 (n = 229)
*DAS remission*
Achieving remission (n [%]) ¹	398 [53%]	77 [52%]	68 [43%]	124 [57%]	129 [56%]
Time-to-remission (median [IQR], months)	33 [11-36]	35 [14-36]	36 [12-36]	28 [9-36]	26 [9-36]
Sustained remission (n [%]) ²	142 [36%]	22 [29%]	25 [37%]	46 [37%]	49 [38%]
Time in sustained remission (median [IQR], months])	19 [10-28]	9 [6-22]	22 [14-29]	18 [10-26]	22 [13-29]
Relationship between time to achieve and sustained remission (OR [95%CI]) ³	1.11 [1.10-1.12]	1.09 [1.07-1.11]	1.15 [1.12-1.17]	1.09 [1.08-1.11]	1.13 [1.11-1.15]
*mACR remission*
Achieving remission (n [%]) ⁴	226 [30%]	48 [33%]	45 [29%]	62 [28%]	71 [31%]
Time-to-remission (median [IQR], months)	13 [8-24]	15 [10-28]	13 [7-24]	15 [9-23]	10 [7-19]
Sustained remission (n [%]) ⁵	58 [26%]	8 [17%]	18 [33%]	13 [21%]	19 [27%]
Time in sustained remission (median [IQR], months])	10 [6-16]	7 [6-8]	11 [7-16]	7 [6-16]	13 [7-24]
Relationship between time to achieve and sustained remission (OR [95%CI]) ³	1.15 [1.14-1.16]	1.13 [1.09-1.16]	1.12 [1.07-1.18]	1.08 [0.96-1.22]	1.12 [0.93-1.16]

¹ Number of patients achieving at least one period of remission (disease activity score, DAS<1.6) during 3 years follow-up. ² Number of patients who had sustained DAS remission (6 months or more) during 3 years follow-up. ³ Odds ratios (ORs) of remission during 3 years follow-up analyzed by longitudinal binary regression with remission status over time as dependent variable, time-to-remission (months) and DAS value of the previous visit as main covariates. ⁴ Number of patients achieving at least one period of remission (modified American College of Rheumatology, mACR) during 3 years follow-up. Fulfillment of the mACR remission criteria was based on 4 of the following 5 criteria to be met: 1) morning stiffness ≤ 15 minutes, 2) VAS pain ≤ 10 mm, 3) no tender joints (out of 53 joints), 4) no swollen joints (out of 44 joints), and 5) ESR < 30 mm/h (female) or < 20 mm/h (male). ⁵ Number of patients who had sustained mACR remission (6 months or more) during 3 years follow-up. IQR = interquartile range, P25-P75; CI = confidence interval.

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