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. 2023 Apr 3;37(4):541–550. doi: 10.1007/s40259-023-00592-8

Table 3.

Characteristics of patients reporting fatigue as an ADR compared with patients with other ADRs and patients without ADRs

Patients with fatigue Patients with other ADRs p-value Patients without ADRs p-value
No. of patients 108 (100) 622 (100) 652 (100)
Age, years (median [IQR]) 52 [39–63] 56 [45–64] 0.02 58 [48–67] < 0.001
Female sex 66 (61) 407 (65) 0.39 331 (51) 0.05
Smoking 27 (25) 99 (16) 0.03 98 (15) 0.02
BMI, kg/m2 (median [IQR]) 25.4 [22.7–27.5] 25.1 [22.5–28.4] 0.83 25.8 [23.2–29.0] 0.11
Biologic
 Adalimumab 30 (28) 225 (36) 0.10 238 (37) 0.08
 Infliximab 24 (22) 54 (9) < 0.001 82 (13) 0.01
 Etanercept 13 (12) 180 (29) < 0.001 220 (34) < 0.001
 Rituximab 10 (9) 19 (3) 0.01 5 (1) < 0.001
 Tocilizumab 8 (7) 30 (5) 0.25 12 (2) 0.004
 Ustekinumab 6 (6) 25 (4) 0.44 33 (5) 0.81
 Vedolizumab 6 (6) 12 (2) 0.04 7 (1) 0.01
 Other 13 (12) 116 (19) 0.10 78 (12) 1.00
Indication
 Rheumatoid arthritis 32 (30) 277 (45) 0.004 279 (43) 0.01
 Psoriatic arthritis 15 (14) 95 (15) 0.77 132 (20) 0.15
 Axial spondyloarthritis 11 (10) 83 (13) 0.44 78 (12) 0.75
 Crohn’s disease 30 (28) 78 (13) < 0.001 86 (13) < 0.001
 Ulcerative colitis 5 (5) 30 (5) 1.00 25 (4) 0.60
 Psoriasis 6 (6) 27 (4) 0.61 50 (8) 0.55
 Other indication 17 (16) 64 (10) 0.06 37 (6) 0.001
Combination therapya
 Methotrexate 24 (22) 173 (28) 0.24 221 (34) 0.02
 Corticosteroidsb 21 (19) 111 (18) 0.69 93 (14) 0.19
 Thiopurinesc 12 (11) 45 (7) 0.17 58 (9) 0.47
 Aminosalicylatesd 9 (8) 51 (8) 1.00 39 (6) 0.39
 Hydroxychloroquine 5 (5) 33 (5) 1.00 36 (6) 0.82
 Leflunomide 2 (2) 42 (7) 0.05 23 (4) 0.56
 No combination therapy 45 (42) 264 (42) 0.92 240 (37) 0.34
Comorbidity
 Cardiovascular disorder 23 (21) 155 (25) 0.47 162 (25) 0.47
 Hypercholesterolaemia 15 (14) 93 (15) 0.88 117 (18) 0.34
 Respiratory disorder 14 (13) 77 (12) 0.88 75 (12) 0.63
 Psychiatric disorder 11 (10) 49 (8) 0.45 31 (5) 0.04
 Nervous system disorder 3 (3) 19 (3) 1.00 19 (3) 1.00
 Cancer 2 (2) 15 (2) 1.00 14 (2) 1.00
 Other comorbidity 33 (31) 126 (20) 0.02 99 (15) < 0.001
 No comorbidity 30 (28) 213 (34) 0.22 230 (35) 0.15
Mean burden score ± SD 2.8 ± 0.9 2.4 ± 1.0 < 0.001

Data are expressed as n (%) unless otherwise specified

ADR adverse drug reaction, BMI body mass index, IQR interquartile range, SD standard deviation

aCombination therapy at the time of reporting the ADR for the first time. For the patients without ADRs, the reported combination therapy at any time during participation was included

bCorticosteroids include predniso(lo)ne, methylprednisolone, hydrocortisone

cThiopurines include azathioprine, thioguanine, mercaptopurine

dAminosalicylates include mesalamine, sulfasalazine