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Table 1 Rheumatoid arthritis characteristics at baseline

From: Comparative effectiveness of treatment with the first TNF antagonist in monotherapy, the first TNF antagonist plus one conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, and the first TNF antagonist plus two or more conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

 

First TNF antagonist monotherapy

First TNF antagonist plus one csDMARD

First TNF antagonist plus two or more csDMARDs

Total

P*

n, %

234

21

766

67

136

12

1.136

100

 

Gender, female n, %

175

75

557

73

99

73

831

73

0.8

Rheumatoid factor (RF)+ n, %

183

78

619

81

104

77

906

80

0.4

ACPA + n, % *

47/71

66

330/431

77

47/70

67

424/ 572

74

0.06

RF- and ACPA- n, %

12

5

64

8

14

10

90

8

0.07

Erosions n, %

195

83

622

81

100

74

917

81

0.05

Rheumatoid nodules n, %

50

21

189

25

18

13

257

23

0.01

Joint arthroplasty n, %

15

6

66

9

3

2

84

7

0.02

Number of comorbidities n, %

 0

67

30

159

22

51

42

277

26

0.003

 1

32

14

72

10

12

10

116

11

 ≥2

124

56

481

68

57

48

662

63

Anti-hepatitis B antibody+ n, %

2/47

4

7/194

4

0/26

0

9/267

3

0.2

Anti-hepatitis C antibody+ n, %

6/46

13

6/195

3

2/26

8

14/267

5

0.05

PPD skin reaction + (≥5 mm) n, %

24

10

120

16

17

13

161/1.112

14

0.09

Secondary Sjögren’s syndrome n, %

44

19

128

17

17

12

189

17

0.2

Interstitial lung disease n, %

16

7

25

3

1

0.7

42

4

0.007

Recurrent infections n, %

5

2

11

1

1

0.7

17

2

0.54

Past cancer n, %

4

2

5

0.6

0

0

9

0.8

0.1

Mean ± SD

         

Age (years) mean ± SD

55.9

±13.7

52.8

±13.4

50 .7

±11.1

53.2

±13.3

0.0001

Duration of disease (years) mean ± SD

9.4

±8.0

9.0

±7.5

8.8

±7.3

9.1

±7.6

0.8

Number of comorbidities mean ± SD

2.2

±2.3

2.7

±2.4

1.9

±2.3

2.5

±2.4

0.0001

Tender joint count (0–28) mean ± SD

10.9

±6.4

10.3

±6.6

11.6

±6.9

10.6

±6.6

0.0003

Swollen joint count (0–28) mean ± SD

9.0

±6.1

7.9

±5.5

8.5

±5.8

8.2

±5.7

0.02

Pain visual analogue scale (0–100) mean ± SD

61.9

±19.3

63.5

±22.2

66.0

±20.8

63.4

±21.5

0.01

DAS28-ESR mean ± SD

5.9

±1.0

5.7

±1.1

5.7

±1.0

5.8

±1.1

0.03

HAQ score (0–3) mean ± SD

1.40

±0.58

1.44

±0.65

1.6

±0.59

1.46

±0.63

0.0003

ESR (mm) mean ± SD

45.7

±24.7

42.1

±25.8

32.7

±21.5

41.8

±25.3

0.0001

C-reactive protein (mg/L) mean ± SD

19.3

±21.4

15.7

±21.5

15.8

±19.4

16.5

±21.2

0.0001

  1. csDMARD conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, ACPA anti-citrullianted protein antibodies, PPD purified protein derivative skin reaction, DAS28-ESR disease activity score in 28 joints-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HAQ health assessment questionnaire.
  2. *This variable was not assessed in all patients