Table 1.
Age, gender and clinical characteristics of children with JIA a
| JIA patients | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QST joint status | ||||
| Characteristics | Total (n = 60) | Active (n = 23) | Inactive (n = 37) | p-value b |
| Female patients, n (%) | 44 (73%) | 17 (74%) | 27 (73%) | 0.94c |
| Age at study visit, years | 13.0 (9.6-15.5) | 10.6 (9.4-15.0) | 14.4 (9.7-15.9) | 0.22 |
| Duration of rheumatology clinic attendance, years, mean (SD) | 5.8 (3.9) | 4.9 (4.0) | 6.4 (3.8) | 0.17d |
| Markers of disease activity | ||||
| Physician's global assessment of overall disease activitye | 1.0 (0.0-2.0) | 2.0 (1.0-3.0) | 0.7 (0.0-1.1) | <0.01 |
| No. of active joints | 1.0 (0.0-3.0) | 3.0 (2.0-9.0) | 0.0 (0.0-0.5) | <0.001 |
| Patient's pain assessmentf | 0.0 (0.0-2.0) | 2.0 (0.0-3.5) | 0.0 (0.0-2.0) | 0.21 |
| Patient's global assessment of overall wellbeingg | 1.0 (0.0-2.7) | 1.2 (0.6-2.8) | 0.0 (0.0-2.9) | 0.10 |
| C-HAQ scoreh | 0.0 (0.0-0.13) | 0.0 (0.0-0.25) | 0.0 (0.0-0.0) | 0.13 |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mm/houri | 8.0 (4.0-11.0) | 8.5 (5.0-12.5) | 8.0 (3.0-11.0) | 0.37 |
| C-reactive protein level, mg/Lj | 0.1 (0.04-0.2) | 0.1 (0.07-0.26) | 0.1 (0.04-0.2) | 0.77 |
| Medications (n) | ||||
| Methotrexate | 33 (55%) | 14 | 19 | |
| Etanercept | 16 (27%) | 6 | 10 | |
| Infliximab | 6 (10%) | 1 | 5 | |
| Leflunomide | 2 (3%) | 0 | 2 | |
| Sulfasalazine | 1 (1.6%) | 0 | 1 | |
C-HAQ: Child Health Assessment Questionnaire; IQR- Inter-Quartile Range; QST- Quantitative Sensory Testing; SD, Standard deviation.
a.All values given as median (IQR) unless otherwise stated. b. p-values indicate differences in JIA patients with active compared to clinically inactive joints. Mann–Whitney test used unless otherwise stated. Boldface highlights significant differences. c.Fisher’s Exact test. d.Unpaired Student’s t-test. e.Data available for 29 patients (Active, n = 7; Inactive, n = 22). f.Data available for 55 patients (Active, n = 21; Inactive, n = 34). g.Measured on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (0, best; 10, worst). Data available for 43 patients: Active, n = 17; Inactive, n = 26) h.Data available for 45 patients (Active, n = 17; Inactive, n = 28). i.Data available for 51 patients (Active, n = 20; Inactive, n = 31). j.Data available for 53 patients (Active, n = 21; Inactive, n = 32).