Time trends in demographics and baseline characteristics at start of MTX monotherapy
| MTX mono | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–2002 | 2003–2004 | 2005–2006 | 2007–2008 | 2009–2010 | p Value* | |
| All patients (n=1866) | n=351 | n=463 | n=394 | n=358 | n=300 | – |
| Age, years (mean (SD)) | 57.0 (14.3) | 56.1 (13.3) | 56.4 (13.6) | 55.1 (14.0) | 55.4 (13.7) | 0.10 |
| Female sex (n (%)) | 249 (70.9) | 337 (72.8) | 275 (69.8) | 233 (65.3) | 208 (70.0) | 0.10 |
| Rheumatoid factor positive (n (%)) | 207 (59.5) | 269 (58.4) | 237 (61.6) | 233 (67.3) | 180 (62.5) | 0.06 |
| Erosive disease (n (%)) | 112 (33.7) | 166 (36.2) | 127 (33.3) | 109 (31.8) | 82 (28.7) | 0.07 |
| Time from diagnosis, months (median (25–75 percentile)) | 10.0 (3.0–96.0) | 4.8 (0.5–66.1) | 1.8 (0.1–19.0) | 0.5 (.0–12.8) | 0.3 (.0–12.8) | <0.001 |
| sDMARD-naïve (n (%)) | 205 (58.4) | 307 (66.3) | 325 (82.5) | 287 (80.2) | 264 (88.0) | <0.001 |
| DAS28 (mean (SD)) | 5.17 (1.26) | 5.06 (1.33) | 4.85 (1.29) | 4.62 (1.39) | 4.75 (1.30) | <0.001 |
| DAS28-CRP (mean (SD)) | 4.94 (1.13) | 4.85 (1.18) | 4.65 (1.20) | 4.37 (1.27) | 4.43 (1.20) | <0.001 |
| SDAI (mean (SD)) | 29.3 (13.6) | 28.2 (13.5) | 26.2 (14.0) | 23.2 (13.5) | 23.5 (12.7) | <0.001 |
| CDAI (mean (SD)) | 26.6 (12.9) | 25.7 (12.8) | 24.1 (13.1) | 21.4 (13.0) | 21.6 (12.0) | <0.001 |
| MHAQ score (0–3) (median (25–75 percentile)) | 0.63 (.38–1.00) | 0.63 (.25–1.00) | 0.63 (.25–1.00) | 0.63 (.25–1.00) | 0.50 (0.13–0.88) | <0.001 |
| 28-SJC (median (25–75 percentile)) | 7 (4–12) | 7 (4–11) | 5 (3–10) | 4 (2–8) | 5 (2–9) | <0.001 |
| 28-TJC (median (25–75 percentile)) | 7 (3–12) | 7 (3–13) | 7 (3–13) | 6 (2–11) | 6 (2–11) | <0.001 |
| ESR, mm/h (median (25–75 percentile)) | 27 (15–47) | 22 (11–41) | 18 (11–34) | 19 (10–32) | 23 (13–39) | 0.001 |
| CRP, mg/L (median (25–75 percentile)) | 18 (7–35) | 13 (5–31) | 10 (5–25) | 8 (3–20) | 8 (3–21) | <0.001 |
| Physician's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 44.3 (16.7) | 40.1 (16.8) | 39.9 (18.6) | 36.2 (20.6) | 34.8 (34.8) | <0.001 |
| Patient's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 51.2 (23.8) | 49.0 (24.5) | 46.8 (23.6) | 47.2 (24.1) | 46.1 (46.1) | 0.003 |
| Pain VAS (mean (SD)) | 49.6 (23.1) | 46.7 (24.3) | 45.7 (24.5) | 46.9 (24.6) | 44.3 (44.3) | 0.02 |
| Fatigue VAS (mean (SD)) | 44.3 (28.1) | 44.9 (29.4) | 42.2 (29.7) | 44.4 (28.4) | 42.1 (42.1) | 0.33 |
| SF-6D (mean (SD)) | 0.56 (0.10) | 0.57 (0.11) | 0.57 (0.10) | 0.58 (0.10) | 0.57 (0.10) | 0.09 |
*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).