Table 1 Patients and disease characteristics

Female sex, n (%)

59 (64.1)

34 (81)

25 (50)

0.158

Age, years, median (range)

58 (30–81)

63.5 (30–81)

54.5 (33–77)

<0.001

Body index mass, kg/m², median (range)

26.4 (18–42)

26.2 (19.2–42)

26.6 (18.3–35)

0.189

Disease duration, years, median (range)

15 (1–44)

15.5 (2–44)

14.5 (1–36)

0.785

Presence of erosions, n (%)

53(57.6)

33 (78.6)

20 (40)

0.012

At least one previous biological treatment, n (%)

28 (27)

11 (26)

14 (28)

0.552

Concomitant csDMARD, n (%)

47 (51.1)

32 (76.2)

15 (30)

0.005

Concomitant steroids, n (%)

15 (16.3)

13 (31)

2 (4)

<0.001

Prednisone dose, mg/day, median (range)

2.5 (3–5)

2.5 (3–5)

3.7 (3–5)

0.152

Biological treatment duration, months, median (range)

64.8 (12–166)

83.2 (9–165)

58.3 (7.6–166)

0.017

Reduced dosage,^a n (%)

42 (45.7)

12 (28.6)

30 (60)

<0.001

Albumin, g/dl, median (range)

42.5 (30–49)

32 (30–49)

47 (30–49)

0.005

CRP, mg/dl, median (range)

0.095 (0.01–1.45)

0.10 (0.01–1.4)

0.09 (0.01–0.6)

0.288

ESR, mm/h, median (range)

10 (2–43)

12.5 (2–43)

8.5 (2–32)

0.004

Calprotectin, μg/ml, median (range)

1.67 (0.06–5.54)

2.16 (0.2–5.5)

1.36 (0.06–4.6)

0.002

SJC, median (range)

0 (0–3)

0 (0–3)

0 (0–2)

0.625

TJC, median (range)

0 (0–2)

0 (0–2)

0 (0–1)

0.788

DAS28-ESR, median (range)

1.96 (1.0–3.2)

2.31 (1.3–3.2)

1.82 (1–3.1)

<0.001

Remission based on DAS28-ESR, n (%)

71 (77.2)

27 (64.3)

44 (88)

0.005

Low disease activity based on DAS28-ESR, n (%)

21 (22.8)

15 (35.7)

6 (12)

0.005

CDAI, median (range)

6 (2–11.0)

6 (2–11)

6 (2–8)

0.782

SDAI, median (range)

6 (2–11.1)

6 (2–11)

6 (2–8)

0.005