Table 1 Effect sizes in study arms with available three month follow up.
| Author, year (ref) | Drug | Dose† | n | Mean duration of RA, years (SD) | Mean baseline HAQ (SD) | ES of HAQ | ES of PAIN | ES of TJC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bao, 2003 (14) | Leflunomide* | 20 mg/d | 291 | 4.9 (5.2) | 1.53 (0.45) | 1.91 | 1.88 | – |
| Methotrexate* | 15 mg/wk | 213 | 3.9 (4.8) | 1.50 (0.42) | 1.83 | 1.73 | – | |
| Baumgartner, 2003 (15) | Etanercept* | 207 | 1.0 (0.9) | 1.45 (0.60) | 1.12 | – | 0.99 | |
| Etanercept* | 25 mg biw | 464 | 12.2 (9.3) | 1.64 (0.70) | 0.77 | – | 1.29 | |
| Choy, 2002 (19) | Sulfasalazine | 2 g/d | 62 | 0.2 (0.2) | 1.10 (0.79) | 0.11 | 0.59 | 0.71 |
| Cohen, 2002 (21) | Anakinra | 1 mg/kg | 48 | 7.0 (–) | 1.30 (0.60) | 0.58 | 0.57 | 0.69 |
| Anakinra | 2 mg/kg | 58 | 8.0 (–) | 1.30 (0.60) | 0.65 | 0.90 | 0.76 | |
| Cohen, 2004 (22) | Anakinra | 100 mg/d | 250 | 11.0 (–) | 1.40 (0.60) | 0.37 | 0.81 | 0.61 |
| Durez, 2004 (24) | Prednisone | 1 g at baseline | 15 | 11.9 (5.9) | 1.57 (0.55) | 0.44 | −0.23 | 0.03 |
| Infliximab* | 3 mg/kg | 12 | 10.6 (5.0) | 1.26 (0.51) | 0.94 | 0.79 | 1.25 | |
| Esdaile, 1995 (25) | Hydroxychloroquine | 7 mg/kg | 59 | 0.7 (0.5) | 1.06 (0.60) | 0.45 | 0.96 | 0.15 |
| Kavanaugh, 2000 (29) | Infliximab* | 5 mg/kg | 7 | 7.4 (2.7) | 1.60 (0.50) | 1.40 | 1.35 | 1.36 |
| Infliximab* | 10 mg/kg | 7 | 7.5 (4.5) | 1.40 (0.70) | 1.00 | 1.35 | 0.89 | |
| Infliximab* | 20 mg/kg | 7 | 4.9 (3.3) | 1.50 (0.80) | 0.75 | 1.42 | 1.54 | |
| Kirwan, 1995 (31) | Prednisone | 7.5 mg/d | 61 | 1.3 (0.3) | 1.21 (0.68) | 0.60 | 0.66 | – |
| Lambert, 2004 (33) | Methotrexate* | 45 mg/wk | 27 | 10.0 (6.9) | 1.40 (0.47) | 0.11 | 0.50 | 0.57 |
| Maini, 1999 (34) | Infliximab* | 240 | 10.3 (8.1) | 1.67 (0.60) | 0.67 | 1.42 | 0.99 | |
| Mottonen, 1999 (35) | Combination* | 97 | 0.6 (0.4) | 0.90 (0.60) | 1.08 | 1.06 | 1.46 | |
| Monotherapy | 98 | 0.7 (0.5) | 0.90 (0.60) | 0.73 | 0.93 | 1.11 | ||
| Rojkovich, 1999 (37) | Combination | 45 | 0.9 (0.7) | 1.64 (0.53) | 1.25 | – | 1.31 | |
| Salaffi, 1995 (38) | Methotrexate* | 10 mg/wk | 50 | 6.1 (4.7) | 1.90 (0.80) | 0.25 | 1.16 | 1.63 |
| St Clair, 2004 (41) | Infliximab* | 530 | 0.87 (0.73) | 1.49 (0.66) | 1.18 | 1.64 | 1.26 | |
| Methotrexate* | 213 | 0.86 (0.72) | 1.53 (0.60) | 1.02 | 1.53 | 1.16 | ||
| van de Putte, 2003 (43) | Adalimumab* | 20 mg/wk | 71 | 10.4 (7.3) | 1.79 (0.64) | 0.70 | 1.77 | 1.06 |
| Adalimumab* | 40 mg/wk | 70 | 10.0 (7.0) | 1.74 (0.66) | 0.71 | 1.82 | 1.24 | |
| Adalimumab* | 80 mg/wk | 72 | 10.1 (7.9) | 1.66 (0.73) | 0.66 | 1.30 | 1.19 | |
| van der Borne, 1998 (45) | Ciclosporine A | 1.25 mg/kg | 29 | 0.3 (0.3) | 1.07 (0.62) | 0.24 | 0.38 | 0.35 |
| Ciclosporine A | 2.5 mg/kg | 30 | 0.3 (0.4) | 1.03 (0.42) | 0.64 | 0.88 | 1.38 | |
| van der Heide, 1996 (46) | Monotherapy | 181 | <0.3 | 1.29 (0.76) | 0.28 | 0.67 | – | |
| Zeidler, 1998 (48) | Ciclosporine A | 5 mg/kg | 165 | 0.9 (0.8) | 1.10 (0.60) | 0.33 | – | 0.70 |
| Parenteral gold | 50 mg/wk | 165 | 1.0 (0.9) | 1.10 (0.60) | 0.50 | – | 0.63 |
*Study arms used in the subgroup analysis.
†If no doses are given, there was either flexible dosing, multiple drugs, or multiple arms with different doses combined.
biw, bi‐weekly; ES, effect size; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TJC, tender joint count; wk, week.