Table 1.
Patients’ clinical characteristics at the beginning of treatment with each agent
| Variable | TNFi (n=3577) |
aIL-6R (n=1497) |
CTLA4-Ig (n=1139) |
JAKi (n=453) |
P value |
| Agents (number of treatment courses) | ETN=959 GLM=743 ADA=725 IFX=656 CZP=314 ETN-BS=156 IFX-BS=24 |
TCZ=1410 SAR=87 |
ABT=1139 | BAR=217 TOF=203 PEF=27 UPA=6 |
N.A. |
| Age (years) | 56.3±15.1 | 58.8±14.5 | 65.4±12.8 | 61.5±13.3 | <0.001 |
| Female sex (%) | 82.8 | 82.5 | 82.4 | 82.1 | 0.96 |
| Disease duration (years) | 8.9±9.7 | 9.9±9.8 | 10.6±10.7 | 11.9±10.4 | <0.001 |
| RF positivity (%) | 74.2 | 77.9 | 78.7 | 79.4 | 0.0045 |
| ACPA positivity (%) | 78.9 | 79.0 | 82.7 | 79.6 | 0.14 |
| DAS28-ESR | 4.2±0.9 | 4.2±1.4 | 4.2±1.1 | 4.2±1.1 | 0.49 |
| CDAI | 14.6±6.5 | 15.0±8.4 | 15.0±7.7 | 15.7±8.9 | 0.020 |
| HAQ-DI | 0.9±0.9 | 0.9±0.8 | 1.0±0.8 | 0.9±0.8 | 0.33 |
| eGFR (mL/min/1.73 m2) | 80.3±23.2 | 79.8±25.8 | 73.0±23.1 | 72.5±20.7 | <0.001 |
| Oral GCs use (%) | 31.7 | 41.3 | 41.6 | 44.4 | <0.001 |
| GCs dose (mg/day; PSL equivalent) | 5.5±3.6 | 6.2±4.1 | 6.2±6.5 | 5.2±3.4 | <0.001 |
| MTX use (%) | 66.3 | 51.5 | 43.5 | 57.0 | <0.001 |
| MTX dose (mg/week) | 8.4±3.2 | 8.1±3.2 | 7.8±3.1 | 8.6±3.1 | <0.001 |
| Other csDMARDs use (%) | 20.6 | 28.7 | 34.8 | 37.3 | <0.001 |
| bDMARD-naïve or JAKi-naïve (%) | 63.4 | 43.5 | 57.9 | 24.7 | <0.001 |
| Second bDMARDs or JAKi (%) | 22.5 | 30.2 | 21.9 | 23.4 | |
| ≥Third bDMARDs or JAKi (%) | 14.1 | 26.3 | 20.1 | 51.9 | |
| Prior TNFi use (%) | 28.6 | 45.4 | 31.9 | 57.6 | <0.001 |
| Prior anti-IL-6R use (%) | 10.3 | 13.6 | 18.0 | 36.9 | <0.001 |
| Prior CTLA4-Ig use (%) | 8.2 | 12.7 | 6.1 | 30.0 | <0.001 |
| Prior JAKi use (%) | 1.7 | 2.6 | 1.8 | 16.1 | <0.001 |
| Hypertension (%) | 28.1 | 30.4 | 38.4 | 30.1 | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidaemia (%) | 24.9 | 32.5 | 23.9 | 33.4 | <0.001 |
| Diabetes (%) | 33.0 | 35.7 | 34.8 | 36.8 | 0.32 |
Values are presented as the mean±SD or percentage. Differences between the groups were assessed using the Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric test or Pearson’s χ2 test.
ABT, abatacept; ACPA, anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; ADA, adalimumab; aIL-6R, anti-interleukin-6 receptor antibodies; BAR, baricitinib; bDMARDs, biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; BS, biosimilar; CDAI, Clinical Disease Activity Index; csDMARDs, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; CTLA4-Ig, cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4-Ig; CZP, certolizumab pegol; DAS28-ESR, Disease Activity Score in 28 joints using erythrocyte sedimentation rate; eGFR, estimated glomerular filtration rate; ETN, etanercept; GCs, glucocorticoids; GLM, golimumab; HAQ-DI, Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index; IFX, infliximab; JAKi, Janus kinase inhibitors; MTX, methotrexate; NA, not applicable; PEF, peficitinib; PSL, prednisolone; RF, rheumatoid factor; SAR, salirumab; TCZ, tocilizumab; TNFi, tumour necrosis factor inhibitors; TOF, tofacitinib; UPA, upadacitinib.