Table 1 Patients’ characteristics at baseline
|  | All patients N = 92 | MTX+plac n = 50 | MTX+pred n = 42 |
|---|---|---|---|
% female | 59 | 56 | 62 |
Age | 57 (47–65) | 54 (46–65) | 58 (47–67) |
Smoking, as number of cigarettes per day | 0 (0–5) | 0 (0–0.5) | 0 (0–5) |
RF status, % positive | 63 | 70 | 56 |
HAQ score, 0–3 | 1.1 (0.63–1.6) | 1.2 (0.63–1.6) | 1.1 (0.63–1.5) |
General health VAS, 0–10 | 5.0 (2.7–6.7) | 5.1 (3.6–6.6) | 4.7 (2.2–6.7) |
TJC28 | 10 (6–17) | 9.5 (6–13) | 12 (5–18) |
SJC28 | 11 (7–15) | 11 (7–15) | 11 (6–15) |
ESR mm/h | 31 (19–44) | 29 (19–43) | 31 (18–45) |
CRP mg/L | 16 (2.7–41) | 16 (5.5–42) | 16 (1.9–37) |
DAS28 | 5.6 (4.9–6.6) | 5.6 (5–6.3) | 5.6 (4.1–6.9) |
MBDA score, 1–100 | 51 (39–71) | 54 (40–72) | 49 (40–70) |