Table 1.
Patient characteristics and medication for the 38 participating rheumatoid arthritis patients.
| Characteristics | Median (interquartile range) |
|---|---|
| Age, years | 56 (46, 69) |
| Disease duration, months | 33 (29, 45) |
| IgM RF seropositive, number (%) | 23 (61) |
| Anti CCP-positive, number (%) (n = 36) | 21 (58) |
| Bone erosions on X-Ray, number (%) (n = 37) | 12 (32) |
| Clinical assessment of disease activity | |
| DAS28 | 4.3 (3.6, 5.0) |
| Tender joints | 7 (4, 13) |
| Swollen joints | 5 (3, 11) |
| CRP mg/L | 5.5 (0.5, 14) |
| VAS Global | 50 (29, 64) |
| HAQ-score (n = 37) | 0.88 (0.63, 1.75) |
| Tender points | 14 (8, 18) |
|
| |
| Medication | Numbers (% of total participating patient group) |
|
| |
| Patients on DMARDs | 34 (89) |
| Patients on DMARDs + biologics | 14 (37) |
| Concomitant per oral prednisolone | 9 (24) |
| Treatment with 80 mg i.m/i.art steroid within the last 4 weeks | 5 (13) |
RF: rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP: anticyclic citrullinated peptide, DAS 28: Disease Activity Score, VAS: visual analog scale, VAS Global: patient global assessment of disease severity as measured on a visual analog scale, DMARDs: disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, i.m/i.art: intramuscular or intra-articular steroid injections.