Time trends in demographics and baseline characteristics at start of first TNFi+MTX
| TNFi+MTX | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–2002 | 2003–2004 | 2005–2006 | 2007–2008 | 2009–2010 | p Value* | |
| All patients (n=707) | n=85 | n=184 | n=143 | n=160 | n=135 | – |
| Age, years (mean (SD)) | 53.4 (11.9) | 51.8 (14.0) | 52.6 (13.2) | 52.3 (12.6) | 50.8 (13.7) | 0.52 |
| Female sex (n (%)) | 57 (67.1) | 125 (67.9) | 107 (74.8) | 113 (70.6) | 94 (70.1) | 0.37 |
| Rheumatoid factor positive (n (%)) | 69 (81.2) | 138 (75.8) | 100 (70.9) | 115 (74.2) | 96 (72.7) | 0.26 |
| Erosive disease (n (%)) | 71 (83.5) | 120 (67.4) | 92 (66.2) | 90 (60.4) | 83 (62.9) | 0.002 |
| Time from diagnosis, years (median (25–75 percentile)) | 8.0 (4.0–15.0) | 6.5 (2.1–15.1) | 6.3 (2.2–14.6) | 4.2 (1.5–13.7) | 3.8 (1.3–10.4) | <0.001 |
| Number of previous sDMARDs (mean (SD)) | 3.5 (1.5) | 2.4 (1.6) | 2.4 (1.2) | 1.9 (1.4) | 1.6 (1.1) | <0.001 |
| DAS28 (mean (SD)) | 5.88 (1.23) | 5.25 (1.23) | 5.21 (1.25) | 4.87 (1.46) | 4.64 (1.41) | <0.001 |
| DAS28-CRP (mean (SD)) | 5.65 (1.08) | 5.09 (1.08) | 4.99 (1.13) | 4.64 (1.27) | 4.32 (1.22) | <0.001 |
| SDAI (mean (SD)) | 37.6 (14.2) | 30.8 (13.2) | 29.5 (13.8) | 25.5 (13.3) | 22.7 (11.5) | <0.001 |
| CDAI (mean (SD)) | 33.7 (13.0) | 28.0 (12.4) | 27.3 (13.2) | 23.8 (12.9) | 21.0 (10.6) | <0.001 |
| MHAQ score (0–3) (median (25–75 percentile)) | 1.0 (0.63–1.38) | 0.75 (.38–0.1.00) | 0.71 (0.38–1.00) | 0.63 (0.38–1.13) | 0.63 (0.13–1.00) | <0.001 |
| 28-SJC (median (25–75 percentile)) | 10 (7–13) | 8 (4–13) | 7 (4–11) | 5 (3–9) | 5 (2–8) | <0.001 |
| 28-TJC (median (25–75 percentile)) | 10 (6–15) | 7 (4–13) | 8 (4–14) | 7 (3–13) | 6 (2–10) | <0.001 |
| ESR mm/h (median (25–75 percentile)) | 34 (19–58) | 24 (12–41) | 20 (10–40) | 19 (10–35) | 20 (11–36) | <0.001 |
| CRP mg/L (median (25–75 percentile)) | 27 (12–54) | 19 (8–37) | 12 (5–30) | 9 (5–22) | 7 (3–20) | <0.001 |
| Physician's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 58.6 (18.1) | 47.2 (18.1) | 43.9 (20.1) | 40.0 (19.0) | 36.4 (17.3) | <0.001 |
| Patient's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 63.0 (20.5) | 55.1 (22.8) | 55.4 (22.9) | 55.5 (24.0) | 47.8 (25.0) | <0.001 |
| Pain VAS (mean (SD)) | 59.0 (22.0) | 50.2 (22.7) | 50.4 (23.4) | 51.0 (25.9) | 44.2 (26.2) | <0.001 |
| Fatigue VAS (mean (SD)) | 55.3 (27.3) | 53.8 (26.7) | 52.9 (26.0) | 53.4 (27.9) | 50.2 (28.1) | 0.19 |
| SF-6D (mean (SD)) | 0.54 (0.11) | 0.56 (0.10) | 0.57 (0.10) | 0.57 (0.10) | 0.56 (0.10) | 0.20 |
*Linear regression analysis with time as the independent variable (continuous 1–10) and the respective baseline variables as dependent variables.
28-SJC and 28-TJC, 28-swollen and tender joint counts, respectively; CDAI, clinical disease activity index; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, disease activity score 28; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; MHAQ, modified health assessment questionnaire; MTX, methotrexate; SDAI, simplified disease activity index; TNFi, tumour necrosis factor inhibitor; VAS, visual analogue scale (0–100 mm).