Table 1.
Demographics and disease characteristics of patients with knee joint symptoms at the initiation of b/tsDMARDs treatment who continued the medication for 3 months and exhibited recorded knee joint symptoms after 6 months.
| Total | IL-6 inhibitor | TNF inhibitor | CTLA4-Ig | JAK inhibitor | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of cases | 295 | 78 | 123 | 35 | 59 | |
| Age | 60.9 (14.3) | 58.8 (14.4) | 59.6 (15.3) | 66.2 (11.0) | 61.7 (13.7) | 0.01* |
| Female (%) | 85.1 | 82.1 | 82.9 | 91.5 | 82.9 | 0.35‡ |
| Disease duration (yr) | 9.0 (10.6) | 8.5 (10.3) | 7.4 (10.2) | 12.5 (11.1) | 10.0 (11.2) | 0.04* |
| Knee tenderness (%) | 88.1 | 83.3 | 89.4 | 88.1 | 94.3 | 0.36‡ |
| Knee swelling (%) | 66.8 | 73.1 | 69.9 | 62.7 | 48.6 | 0.05‡ |
| TJC | 5.4 (5.2) | 4.7 (4.4) | 5.2 (4.9) | 5.1 (4.7) | 7.6 (7.6) | 0.39† |
| SJC | 4.4 (4.5) | 4.5 (4.6) | 4.0 (3.8) | 4.9 (4.6) | 5.2 (6.3) | 0.69† |
| DAS28-ESR | 5.0 (1.1) | 5.1 (1.1) | 5.0 (1.1) | 5.1 (1.1) | 5.1 (1.3) | 0.9† |
| SDAI | 22.8 (12.0) | 23.6 (11.4) | 21.7 (11.1) | 22.5 (12.0) | 25.5 (15.5) | 0.64† |
| CDAI | 20.2 (10.7) | 19.9 (9.6) | 19.4 (10.1) | 20.2 (10.8) | 23.7 (14.5) | 0.55† |
| ESR (mm/h) | 49.3 (30.8) | 57.2 (36.8) | 47.1 (26.5) | 46.5 (27.6) | 44.3 (34.1) | 0.07* |
| CRP (mg/dL) | 2.5 (3.1) | 3.5 (3.8) | 2.2 (2.7) | 2.2 (2.7) | 1.7 (3.1) | 0.008* |
| MMP3 (ng/mL) | 363.1 (441.4) | 437.7 (469.7) | 363.2 (442.6) | 273.0 (295.1) | 340.0 (555.2) | 0.23* |
| ACPA positivity (%) | 78.3 | 77.8 | 76.3 | 90.4 | 67.7 | 0.07‡ |
| RF positivity (%) | 76.6 | 80.5 | 71.9 | 87.9 | 65.7 | 0.03‡ |
| MTX usage (%) | 57.3 | 52.6 | 69.9 | 48.6 | 42.4 | 0.001‡ |
| MTX dose (mg/week) | 8.7 (3.3) | 9.4 (3.2) | 8.7 (3.3) | 6.9 (3.3) | 9.3 (3.5) | 0.01† |
| Glucocorticoid usage (%) | 38 | 43.6 | 30.9 | 42.9 | 42.4 | 0.21‡ |
| Glucocorticoid dose (mg/day) | 5.4 (6.0) | 5.4 (2.9) | 5.3 (2.5) | 4.2 (3.5) | 8.3 (14.6) | 0.17† |
| 1st b/ts DMARDs (%) | 60.7 | 47.4 | 74.8 | 69.5 | 25.7 | < 0.001‡ |
Values either represent mean ± standard deviation or percentage.
TJC, tender joint count; SJC, swelling joint count; DAS28-ESR, disease activity score 28-joint count with erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CDAI, clinical disease activity index; SDAI, simplified disease activity index; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; MMP3, matrix metalloproteinase-3; ACPA, anticitrullinated protein/peptide antibodies; RF, rheumatoid factor; MTX, methotrexate; b/tsDMARDs, biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.
*One-way ANOVA; †, Wilcoxon/Kruskal–Wallis test; ‡, Pearson’s chi-square test.