Table 1.
Baseline demographic and clinical features of RA patients
| Characteristics | All patients (n = 56) | Non-progressive group (n = 40) | Progressive group (n = 16) | P* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic | ||||
| Age, yrs, median (IQR) | 48 (37 ~ 57) | 48 (37 ~ 58) | 51 (38 ~ 56) | 0.863 |
| Female, n (%) | 43 (77) | 33 (83) | 10 (63) | 0.211 |
| Disease duration, mo, median (IQR) | 24 (12 ~ 55) | 17 (12 ~ 36) | 24 (13 ~ 117) | 0.154 |
| Short duration, n (%) | 5 (9) | 3 (1) | 2 (13) | 0.941 |
| Intermediate duration, n (%) | 32 (57) | 25 (63) | 7 (44) | 0.200 |
| Long duration, n (%) | 19 (34) | 12 (30) | 7 (44) | 0.326 |
| Core disease activity indicators | ||||
| ESR (mm/h), median (IQR) | 56 (37 ~ 72) | 56 (39 ~ 72) | 57 (36 ~ 81) | 0.856 |
| CRP (mg/dl), median (IQR) | 1.4 (0.7 ~ 3.3) | 1.3 (0.6 ~ 3.0) | 1.7 (0.9 ~ 5.5) | 0.214 |
| RF (mg/ml), median (IQR) | 206 (61 ~ 475) | 211 (42 ~ 465) | 178 (69 ~ 510) | 0.885 |
| Anti-CCP (U/ml), median (IQR) | 132 (32 ~ 300) | 78 (26 ~ 300) | 178 (53 ~ 425) | 0.178 |
| SDAI, median (IQR) | 27.7 (16.0 ~ 39.5) | 29.3 (14.2 ~ 42.6) | 22.1 (16.3 ~ 36.1) | 0.479 |
| CDAI, median (IQR) | 25.0 (14.3 ~ 36.8) | 27.0 (13.0 ~ 39.0) | 19.0 (15.3 ~ 32.8) | 0.345 |
| DAS28, median (IQR) | 5.1 (3.8 ~ 5.9) | 5.1 (3.9 ~ 6.1) | 4.6 (3.9 ~ 5.7) | 0.514 |
| Poor prognosis features | ||||
| Function limitation, n (%) | 30 (54) | 20 (50) | 10 (63) | 0.397 |
| RF positive, n (%) | 47 (84) | 32 (80) | 15 (94) | 0.388 |
| Anti-CCP positive, n (%) | 46 (82) | 31 (78) | 15 (94) | 0.295 |
| Extraarticular disease, n (%) | 1 (2)a | 0 | 1 (2) | NA |
| Bony erosions, n (%) | 52 (93) | 36 (90) | 16 (100) | 0.460 |
| Total Sharp score, median (IQR) | 11 (3 ~ 25) | 8 (3 ~ 16) | 22 (13 ~ 43) | 0.003 |
| Joint narrow score, median (IQR) | 6 (1 ~ 13) | 3 (1 ~ 8) | 11 (6 ~ 25) | 0.014 |
| Erosion score, median (IQR) | 5 (2 ~ 13) | 4 (1 ~ 7) | 13 (8 ~ 20) | 0.001 |
| Serum MMP-3 (ng/ml), median (IQR) | 175 (57 ~ 365) | 123 (45 ~ 276) | 316 (195 ~ 563) | 0.010 |
| Hepatitis B virus infection, n (%) | 5 (9) | 2 (5) | 3 (19) | 0.135 |
| Previous medications | ||||
| DMARDs and corticosteroids naïve, n (%) | 26 (46) | 21 (53) | 5 (31) | 0.253 |
| Corticosteroids, n (%) | 17 (30) | 11 (28) | 6 (38) | NA |
| Irregular, n (%) | 9 (16) | 5 (13) | 4 (25) | NA |
| Prednisolone 10 mg/d, n (%) | 4 (7) | 4 (10) | 0 (0) | NA |
| Prednisolone 5 mg/d, n (%) | 4 (7) | 2 (5) | 2 (13) | NA |
| Methotrexate, n (%) | 21 (38) | 12 (30) | 9 (56) | NA |
| Leflunomide, n (%) | 10 (18) | 7 (18) | 3 (19) | NA |
| Sulfasalazine, n (%) | 3 (5) | 2 (5) | 1 (6) | NA |
| Hydroxychloroquine, n (%) | 7 (13) | 3 (8) | 4 (25) | NA |
| Cyclosporin A, n (%) | 2 (4) | 2 (5) | 0 | NA |
| Infliximab, n (%) | 2 (4) | 0 | 2 (12) | NA |
| YSP, n (%) | 2 (4) | 2 (5) | 0 | NA |
*Compared between non-progressive group and progressive group by Mann–Whitney rank-sum test
RA rheumatoid arthritis, CRP C-reactive protein, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, MMP-3 matrix metalloproteinase-3, RF rheumatoid factor, anti-CCP anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, DAS28 Disease Activity Score 28-joint assessment, SDAI simplified disease activity index, CDAI clinical disease activity index, YSP recombinant human tumor necrosis factor-α receptorII:IgG Fc fusion protein (Yi SaiPu), IQR interquartile range, NA not applicable
aRA vasculitis