A cross-sectional study of pain sensitivity, disease-activity assessment, mental health, and fibromyalgia status in rheumatoid arthritis

Table 1 Participant characteristics

		Whole study group	Fibromyalgia classification
		Median (IQR) or %	Yes	No
N		50	24	26
Female		76%	75%	77%
Age		60 (54–69)	58 (54–66)	63 (54–70)
Current smoker		21%	26%	17%
Analgesia	Any	69%	71%	65%
	Paracetamol	63%	71%	54%
	NSAID	16%	17%	15%
	Opiate	37%	38%	35%
DMARD	Methotrexate	59%	50%	65%
	Sulfasalazine	22%	15%	25%
	Other nonbiologic DMARD	36%	40%	30%
	Combination nonbiologic DMARD	24%	29%	15%
Biologic therapy		12%	8%	16%
Combination therapy		31%	33%	27%
Glucocorticosteroid		20%	15%	21%
Pressure pain threshold
	Knee	173 (119–287)	133 (58–181)**	239 (169–470)
	Tibia	140 (98–246)	108 (61–167)**	187 (122–337)
	Sternum	155 (85–211)	111 (70–175)**	179 (149–256)

Demographics of the entire study group and a comparison between participants that did or did not satisfy fibromyalgia-classification criteria. Other nonbiologic DMARDs were azathioprine (n = 2), leflunomide (n = 4), gold (n = 3), hydroxychloroquine (n = 6), and cyclosporin (n = 3). Biologic therapies were antitumor-necrosis factor agents (n=4), rituximab (n=1), or abatacept (n=1). Combination DMARDs; two or more biologic or nonbiologic DMARDs. **P < 0.01 (compared with participants who did not satisfy criteria for fibromyalgia).