Table 1.
Baseline patient characteristics
| Characteristic | Placebo | Etoricoxib 90 mg | Naproxen 1000 mg |
| (N = 357) | (N = 353) | (N = 181) | |
| % women | 82 | 81 | 82 |
| Mean age [yrs] (SD) | 52 (12) | 53 (12) | 52 (12) |
| Mean duration of rheumatoid arthritis [yrs] (SD) | 9 (8) | 8 (8) | 8 (8) |
| % rheumatoid factor-positive | 83 | 85 | 87 |
| % in ARA functional class: | |||
| I | 27 | 31 | 27 |
| II | 56 | 53 | 58 |
| III | 17 | 16 | 16 |
| % taking rheumatoid arthritis medications: | |||
| Corticosteroids | 57 | 54 | 59 |
| Disease modifying antirheumatic drugs | 83 | 83 | 81 |
| Methotrexate | 59 | 55 | 62 |
| Mean patient global assessment of disease activity (100 mm visual analog scale) ‡ (SD) | 65 (19) | 66 (20) | 65 (19) |
| Mean investigator global assessment of disease activity (0 to 4 scale) ‡ (SD) | 2.7 (0.6) | 2.7 (0.7) | 2.7 (0.6) |
| Mean number of tender joints (of 68) ‡ (SD) | 29 (15) | 29 (15) | 28 (15) |
| Mean number of swollen joints (of 66) ‡ (SD) | 19 (12) | 19 (13) | 18 (12) |
‡ Higher score corresponds to greater disease activity.