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Table 1 Characteristics of patients with radiographic data

From: Smoking, body mass index, disease activity, and the risk of rapid radiographic progression in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis

  Data available at inclusion and 5 years (n = 162) Data available at 1 year and 5 years (n = 161)
Characteristics at inclusion Characteristics at 1 year
Demographics and history
 Female sex, n (%) 114 (70) 116 (72)
 Age at inclusion (years) 62 (52–70) 62 (52–70)
 Symptom duration at inclusion (months) 7 (5–10) 7 (5–10)
 Time to first DMARD (months)a 5 (3–7) 5 (3–7)
Current treatment
 DMARD (any), n (%) 138 (85) 135 (84)
  MTX, n (%) 85 (52) 97 (60)
   MTX dose (mg/week) 10.0 (7.5–10.0) 10.0 (7.5–15.0)
  Other DMARDs, n (%) 56 (35) 51 (32)
 Concurrent prednisolone, n (%) 60 (37) 45 (28)
  Prednisolone dose (mg/day) 7.5 (5.0–15.0) 5.0 (3.75–7.5)
Anthropometrics
 BMI (kg/m2) 25 (23–28) NR
  Obeseb, n (%) 19 (12) NR
  Overweightb, n (%) 69 (45) NR
  Normal BMIb, n (%) 66 (43) NR
Cigarette smoking status
 Current smokers, n (%) 49 (32) NR
 Previous smokers, n (%) 51 (33) NR
 Never smokers, n (%) 55 (36) NR
Disease parameters
 RF-positive at inclusion, n (%) 105 (65) 104 (65)
 Anti-CCP antibody-positive at inclusion, n (%) 83 (59) 80 (58)
 Modified Sharp–van der Heijde score 2 (0–8) 6 (1–16)
 Joint space narrowing score 0 (0–6) 4 (0–11)
 Erosion score 0 (0–2) 2 (0–4)
 Erosions presentc, n (%) 28 (17) 47 (30)
 DAS28 4.7 (3.6–5.7) 3.6 (2.7–4.4)
 Remissiond, n (%) 12 (8) 36 (23)
 Low disease activityd, n (%) 27 (17) 56 (36)
 Moderate disease activityd, n (%) 75 (47) 80 (51)
 High disease activityd, n (%) 59 (37) 21 (13)
 HAQ 0.75 (0.38–1.25) 0.50 (0.13–0.88)
 Swollen joint count (out of 28) 7 (5–11) 4 (2–6)
 Tender joint count (out of 28) 4 (2–9) 2 (0–5)
 ESR (mm/h) 22 (11–43) 16 (8–30)
 CRP (mg/l)e 9 (< 9–28) < 9 (< 9–11)
 Patient’s global assessment (VAS 0–100) 46 (21–65) 24 (11–48)
 Pain (VAS 0–100) 40 (19–61) 24 (11–44)
  1. Median (interquartile range) presented unless otherwise stated
  2. For characteristics in patients with radiographic data available and included in the analysis for inclusion/1 year, missing numbers were as follows: symptom duration = 1/NA, time to DMARD = 15/NA, BMI = 5/NR, cigarette smoking status = 7/NR, RF = 1/1, anti-CCP = 22/22, erosion present = 1/2, DAS28 = 1/4, HAQ = 1/0, swollen joint count = 1/1, tender joint count = 1/1, ESR = 1/3, CRP = 1/2, patient’s global assessment = 1/2, pain = 1/2
  3. DMARD disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, MTX methotrexate, BMI body mass index, NR not reported, RF rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP antibodies to cyclic citrullinated peptides, DAS28 Disease Activity Score of 28 joints, HAQ Health Assessment Questionnaire, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, CRP C-reactive protein, VAS visual analogue scale, NA not applicable
  4. aDuration from rheumatoid arthritis symptom onset to start of first DMARD
  5. bDefinitions based on BMI: obese ≥ 30 kg/m2; overweight 25–29.99 kg/m2; normal 18.5–24.99 kg/m2. Three patients with BMI ≤ 18.5 kg/m2 were excluded from this analysis
  6. cBy standard radiographic evaluation, independent of modified Sharp–van der Heijde scoring
  7. dDefinitions based on DAS28: remission ≤ 2.6; low ≤ 3.2; moderate > 3.2 to ≤ 5.1; high > 5.1
  8. eAnalysis sensitivity differs, with some data ranging from 0 to 9 (mg/l) only reported as < 9 (mg/l)
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Arthritis Research & Therapy

ISSN: 1478-6362

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