Table 3 Results of questionnaire on the subject of patient preferences for treatment strategies*.
| Sequential monotherapy (group 1) | Step‐up combination therapy (group 2) | Initial combination with prednisone (group 3) | Initial combination with infliximab (group 4) | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Was there, before you started with the BeSt study, one particular group you hoped to be assigned to? | |||||
| No preferred group | 48 (45) | 55 (55) | 57 (50) | 35 (29) | 195 (44) |
| Hoped for group 1 | 17 (16) | 11 (11) | 4 (4) | 3 (3) | 35 (8) |
| Hoped for group 2 | 5 (5) | 8 (8) | 5 (4) | 2 (2) | 20 (5) |
| Hoped for group 3 | 3 (3) | 0 (0) | 22 (19) | 2 (2) | 27 (6) |
| Hoped for group 4 | 27 (25) | 23 (23) | 21 (18) | 74 (62) | 145 (33) |
| No answer | 6 (6) | 3 (3) | 6 (5) | 3 (2) | 18 (4) |
| Was there, before you started with the BeSt study, one particular group you hoped not to be assigned to? | |||||
| No preferred group | 45 (42) | 49 (49) | 62 (54) | 46 (39) | 202 (46) |
| Hoped not group 1 | 3 (3) | 2 (2) | 10 (8) | 4 (3) | 19 (4) |
| Hoped not group 2 | 0 (0) | 2 (2) | 2 (2) | 1 (1) | 5 (1) |
| Hoped not group 3 | 48 (45) | 40 (40) | 25 (22) | 54 (45) | 167 (38) |
| Hoped not group 4 | 4 (4) | 4 (4) | 8 (7) | 8 (7) | 24 (6) |
| No answer | 6 (6) | 3 (3) | 8 (7) | 6 (5) | 23 (5) |
| If you presented with rheumatoid arthritis at this moment and treatment would have to be initiated, what kind of treatment would you choose to start with | |||||
| One well known antirheumatic drug | 40 (38) | 33 (33) | 12 (10) | 9 (8) | 94 (21) |
| Combination without prednisone | 18 (17) | 29 (29) | 28 (24) | 9 (8) | 84 (19) |
| Combination with prednisone | 2 (2) | 3 (3) | 46 (40) | 3 (2) | 54 (12) |
| Combination with infliximab | 43 (40) | 27 (27) | 26 (23) | 95 (80) | 191 (44) |
| No answer | 3 (3) | 8 (8) | 3 (3) | 3 (2) | 17 (4) |
*Data are number (percentage) of patients. See Patients and methods for description of treatment groups.