Table 1. Patient characteristics.
| Characteristics | Total |
|---|---|
| Number of patients | 156 |
| Age, years | 42 (32–54) |
| Number of patients >50years | 46 (29) |
| Number of male patients | 96 (62) |
| Diagnosis | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 75 (48) |
| Ankylosing spondylitis | 71 (46) |
| Others a | 10 (6.4) |
| History of previous TB exposure (+) | 7 (4.5) |
| History of previous TB treatment (+) | 17 (11) |
| Tuberculin skin test (+) | 64 (43) b |
| Chest radiography (previous TB +) | 8 (5.1) |
| TNF-α antagonist c | |
| Etanercept | 79 (58) |
| Adalimumab | 65 (47) |
| Infliximab | 21 (15) |
| Concurrent immunosuppressive therapy | |
| Methotrexate | 71 (46) |
| Tacrolimus | 3 (1.9) |
| Steroid | 74 (47.4) |
The data are presented as median and interquartile range or as number (%).
TB, tuberculosis; +, positive; TNF, tumor necrosis factor.
aInflammatory bowel disease (n = 5; 2 with ulcerative colitis and 3 with Crohn’s disease), spondyloarthropathy (n = 2), and psoriatic arthropathy (n = 3)
bOf 156 patients included in this study, 150 were tested by tuberculin skin test.
cA total of 137 patients received TNF-α antagonist therapy. Twenty-seven patients were administered two or more drugs.