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Table 1 Comparison of baseline patient characteristics between different stages of the flowchart as presented in Fig. 1

From: Improvement of symptoms in clinically suspect arthralgia and resolution of subclinical joint inflammation: a longitudinal study in patients that did not progress to clinical arthritis

Patient characteristics

N = 241

N = 196

N = 152

N = 98

Age in years, mean (SD)

44 (13)

44 (13)

45 (13)

47 (13)

Female sex, N (%)

187 (78)

152 (77)

118 (78)

73 (74)

Family history of RA, N (%)

71 (30)

52 (27)

43 (28)

28 (29)

Symptom duration in weeks, median (IQR)

18 (10–48)

17 (9–30)

17 (9–33)

17 (9–43)

Presence of morning stiffness ≥ 60 min, N (%)

80 (33)

61 (35)

49 (32)

29 (30)

68-TJC, median (IQR)

6 (3–10)

6 (2–11)

6 (2–10)

5 (2–10)

VAS pain score, median (IQR)

5 (3–7)

5 (3–7)

5 (3–7)

5 (3–6)

 3 items on EULAR definition of arthralgia suspicious for progression to RA [13], N (%)

178 (74)

141 (72)

100 (66)

63 (64)

Increased CRP (≥ 5 mg/L), N (%)

53 (22)

39 (20)

29 (19)

19 (19)

Autoantibody status

 Negative for IgM-RF and ACPA, N (%)

184 (76)

166 (84)

125 (82)

79 (81)

 ACPA- or RF-positive, N (%)

57 (24)

31 (16)

27 (18)

19 (19)

  1. ACPA anti-citrullinated peptide antibody (positive if ≥ 7 U/mL), CRP C-reactive protein, IgM-RF immunoglobulin M rheumatoid factor (positive if ≥ 3.5 IU/mL), IQR interquartile range, RA rheumatoid arthritis, SD standard deviation, TJC tender joint count