Feasibility of tailored treatment based on risk stratification in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of 417 patients classified as having a poor prognosis or a non-poor prognosis

	Poor prognosis patients		Non-poor prognosis patients
	Initial mono	Initial combo	Initial mono	Initial combo	P-value
	(n =100)	(n =92)	(n =100)	(n =125)
Age, years, mean ± SD	56 ± 13	58 ± 15	53 ± 13	51 ± 13	0.002
Gender, n (%) female	68 (68)	60 (65)	72 (72)	78 (62)	0.481
Treatment strategy, n (%)					<0.001
1. Sequential monotherapy (MTX)	51 (51)	0	54 (54)	0
2. Step-up therapy (MTX)	49 (49)	0	46 (46)	0
3. MTX, SSA and prednisone	0	43 (47)	0	61 (49)
4. MTX and infliximab	0	49 (53)	0	64 (51)
Disease activity score, mean ± SD	4.8 ± 0.7	4.5 ± 0.6	4.3 ± 0.9	4.1 ± 0.9	<0.001
Swollen joint count, median (IQR)	17 (11-22)	15 (12-18)	11 (8-16)	11 (8-17)	<0.001
Tender joint count, median (IQR)	14 (11-19)	13 (10-19)	13 (8-16)	12 (8-17)	<0.001
ESR, mean ± SD	51 ± 30	44 ± 29	37 ± 25	35 ± 24	<0.001
VAS gh, mean ± SD	61 ± 21	57 ± 22	60 ± 23	60 ± 21	0.754
HAQ, mean ± SD	1.4 ± 0.7	1.4 ± 0.7	1.3 ± 0.7	1.3 ± 0.7	0.633
RF-positive, n (%)	85 (85)	79 (86)	49 (49)	54 (43)	<0.001
ACPA-positive, n (%)	87 (89)	76 (84)	40 (41)	49 (40)	<0.001
Erosive disease, n (%)	79 (81)	78 (85)	62 (63)	74 (60)	<0.001

ACPA, anti-citrullinated autoantibodies; Erosive disease, defined as the presence of >0.5 erosion on radiographs of hands and feet; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HAQ, health assessment questionnaire (0 to 3 scale); Initial combo, initial combination therapy with either prednisone or infliximab; Initial mono, initial monotherapy with methotrexate; MTX, methotrexate; Non-poor prognosis patients (presence of ≤2 of 4 poor prognostic factors); Poor prognosis patients (presence of ≤3 of 4 poor prognostic factors); RF, IgM rheumatoid factor; SSA, sulphasalazine; VAS gh, visual analogue scale (0 to 100 millimeter scale) of general health.

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