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Table 1 Association of patient characteristics with patient-provider discordance in global assessments of disease activity in the total study population

From: Patient-provider discordance between global assessments of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis: a comprehensive clinical evaluation

Characteristic

All patients

(N = 339)

Concordant group

(n = 236)

Discordant groupa

(n = 103)

P value

Age, years

63.5 (55.1–72.8)

62.4 (55.1–73.8)

63.5 (54.9–72.0)

.79

Sex

.15

 Female

235 (69)

158 (67)

77 (75)

 

 Male

104 (31)

78 (33)

26 (25)

 

Disease duration, years

7.0 (2.7, 11.4)

7.4 (3.5, 11.7)

6.3 (2.2, 8.8)

.53

Provider type

.63

 NP/PA

230 (68)

160 (68)

70 (68)

 

 Physician

90 (27)

61 (26)

29 (28)

 

 Fellow

19 (6)

15 (6)

4 (4)

 

Comorbidity

 Fibromyalgia

28 (8)

10 (4)

18 (17)

< .001

 Depression

101 (30)

61 (26)

40 (39)

.02

 Osteoarthritis

184 (54)

121 (51)

63 (61)

.09

 Sleep apnea

63 (19)

47 (20)

16 (16)

.34

 Obesity (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2)

130 (42)

87 (39)

43 (47)

.19

 BMI, kg/m2

28.5 (25.1–33.7)

28.4 (24.2–32.9)

29.4 (26.5–35.4)

.03

Disease assessment

 Patient global, 0-100

33 (11–57)

20 (6–44)

57 (46–72)

< .001

 Provider global, 0-100

15 (5–30)

15 (5–40)

15 (10–20)

.20

 Pain VAS, 0-100

38 (15–63)

24 (9–50)

60 (44–73)

< .001

 Tender joint count ≥ 2

121 (36)

75 (32)

46 (45)

.02

 Swollen joint count ≥ 2

122 (36)

82 (35)

40 (39)

.47

 DAS28-CRP

3.0 (2.2–4.4)

2.6 (1.9–4.1)

3.7 (2.7–4.7)

.004

 CDAI

7.5 (3.0–14.5)

5.6 (2.0–13.8)

9.8 (6.5–15.6)

< .001

  Remission, < 2.8

80 (24)

78 (33)

2 (2)

< .001

  LDA, ≥ 2.8 to < 10.0

130 (38)

79 (33)

51 (50)

 

  MDA, ≥ 10.0 to < 22.0

89 (26)

51 (22)

38 (37)

 

  HDA, ≥ 22.0

40 (12)

28 (12)

12 (12)

 

Laboratory assessment

 CRP, mg/L

3.2 (2.9–9.2)

3.3 (2.9–9.4)

3.2 (2.9–9.2)

.96

 RF positivity

233 (71)

173 (75)

60 (61)

.01

 Anti-CCP antibody positivity

201 (67)

146 (71)

55 (59)

.045

Radiographic joint erosion

172 (52)

133 (57)

39 (39)

.002

Medication use

 Prednisone

150 (44)

101 (43)

49 (48)

.42

 Methotrexate

215 (63)

148 (63)

67 (65)

.68

 Biologics

125 (37)

83 (35)

42 (41)

.33

 Change of RA medications at index visit

91 (27)

69 (29)

22 (21)

.13

 Opioid

78 (23)

45 (19)

33 (32)

.009

 Fibromyalgia med

33 (10)

16 (7)

17 (17)

.005

 Sleep aid

36 (11)

18 (8)

18 (17)

.007

 Antidepressant or anxiolytic

80 (24)

45 (19)

35 (34)

.003

  1. aValues are presented as median (interquartile range) or number (percentage)
  2. bDiscordant group contains only those patients with a global assessment greater than the physician global assessment
  3. anti-CCP anticyclic citrullinated peptide, BMI body mass index, CDAI Clinical Disease Activity Index, CRP C-reactive protein, DAS28-CRP Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using C-reactive protein, DMARD disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, HDA high disease activity, LDA low disease activity, MDA moderate disease activity, NP nurse practitioner, PA physician assistant, RA rheumatoid arthritis, RF rheumatoid factor