Table 2.
Clinical characteristics of IL-6Ri vs. JAKi initiators
| Covariates | IL-6Ri initiators N = 100 |
JAKi initiators N = 129 |
Standardized differencea |
|---|---|---|---|
| CDAI (0–76), mean (SD), N | 23.9 (13.1), 91 | 19.7 (12.9), 106 | 0.324 |
| CDAI category, n (%) | N = 91 | N = 106 | 0.499 |
| Remission (CDAI ≤ 2.8) | < 5 | < 5 | |
| Low (2.8 < CDAI ≤ 10) | 9 (10) | 28 (26) | |
| Moderate (10 < CDAI ≤ 22) | 38 (42) | 31 (29) | |
| High (CDAI > 22) | 43 (47) | 43 (41) | |
| TJC (0–28), mean (SD), N | 8.0 (7.0), 92 | 7.2 (7.0), 106 | 0.123 |
| SJC (0–28), mean (SD), N | 5.9 (5.6), 92 | 4.4 (5.0), 106 | 0.294 |
| MDGA (VAS 0–100), mean (SD), N | 42.2 (23.3), 92 | 30.2 (20.3), 106 | 0.550 |
| PtGA (VAS 0–100), mean (SD), N | 55.8 (24.6), 91 | 51.7 (26.7), 106 | 0.161 |
| HAQ (0–3), mean (SD), N | 1.2 (0.7), 87 | 1.2 (0.7), 106 | 0.049 |
| Patient-reported pain (VAS 0–100), mean (SD), N | 58.1 (25.2), 91 | 53.3 (26.6), 106 | 0.183 |
| Patient-reported fatigue (VAS 0–100), mean (SD), N | 57.3 (25.8), 91 | 52.6 (28.9), 103 | 0.170 |
| Morning stiffness, n (%), N | 81 (89), 91 | 97 (92), 106 | 0.084 |
| Morning stiffness duration (h)b, mean (SD), N | 2.5 (4.7), 91 | 2.5 (4.2), 106 | 0.016 |
| Prior use of csDMARDs, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 0.197 |
| 0 | < 5 | 6 (4.7) | |
| 1 | 22 (22) | 39 (30) | |
| 2 + | 74 (74) | 84 (65) | |
| Prior use of TNFi, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 0.079 |
| 0 | 9 (9) | 14 (11) | |
| 1 | 24 (24) | 33 (26) | |
| 2 + | 67 (67) | 82 (64) | |
| Prior use of non-TNFi, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 1.350 |
| 0 | 41 (41) | 0 (0) | |
| 1 | 42 (42) | 55 (43) | |
| 2 + | 17 (17) | 74 (57) | |
| Prednisone dose, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 0.281 |
| No use | 73 (73) | 86 (67) | |
| Current use, missing dose | < 5 | < 5 | |
| Current use, dose < 10 mg daily | 17 (17) | 30 (23) | |
| Current use, dose ≥ 10 mg daily | 10 (10) | 10 (8) | |
| Concomitant therapy, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 0.317 |
| Monotherapy | 42 (42) | 64 (50) | |
| Combination with MTX | 24 (24) | 39 (30) | |
| Combination with other csDMARDs | 34 (34) | 26 (20) | |
| Line of therapy, n (%) | N = 100 | N = 129 | 0.048 |
| 2nd line | 7 (7) | 10 (8) | |
| 3rd line | 12 (12) | 17 (13) | |
| 4th + line | 81 (81) | 102 (79) |
CDAI Clinical Disease Activity Index, csDMARDs conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, HAQ Health Assessment Questionnaire, IL-6Ri interleukin-6 receptor inhibitor, JAKi Janus kinase inhibitor, MDGA Physician Global Assessment, MTX methotrexate, n/N number of patients, PtGA Patient Global Assessment, SD standard deviation, SJC swollen joint count, TJC tender joint count, TNFi tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, VAS visual analog scale
aPresented as absolute values
bOnly calculated for patients reporting morning stiffness