Table 1.
Characteristics of the 6120 patients with rheumatic diseases
| Female sex, n (%) | 5391 | (88) |
| Age, mean ± SD | 47 | ±12 |
| Men | 50 | ±12 |
| Women | 46 | ±12 |
| Years of education, n (%) | ||
| ≤14 years | 2673 | (44) |
| >14 years | 2959 | (48) |
| Unknown | 488 | (8) |
| Marital status, n (%) | ||
| Single | 963 | (16) |
| Married or in a steady relationship | 4480 | (73) |
| Separated or widowed | 662 | (11) |
| Unknown | 15 | (0) |
| Language, n (%) | ||
| Dutch | 1871 | (31) |
| English | 739 | (12) |
| French | 787 | (13) |
| German | 560 | (9) |
| Portuguese | 725 | (12) |
| Spanish | 1438 | (23) |
| Disease duration, median, interquartile range | 5 | 2–11 |
| Rheumatic disease, n (%)a | ||
| Fibromyalgia | 2993 | (49) |
| Osteoarthritis | 1249 | (20) |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 1054 | (17) |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 804 | (13) |
| Ankylosing spondylitis/Bechterew’s disease | 621 | (10) |
| Sjögren’s syndrome | 567 | (9) |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 240 | (4) |
| Scleroderma | 147 | (2) |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | 93 | (2) |
| Ehlers-Danlos syndrome or hypermobility syndrome | 85 | (1) |
| Juvenile idiopathic arthritis | 81 | (1) |
| Gout or pseudogout | 62 | (1) |
| Mixed connective tissue disease | 56 | (1) |
| Tietze’s syndrome/costochondritis | 54 | (1) |
| Another rheumatic diseaseb | 149 | (2) |
aDue to patients with more than one rheumatic disease, the sum of percentages mentioned per rheumatic disease exceeds 100 %
bThe most mentioned diseases in the category “another rheumatic disease” are osteoporosis (n = 22), Behçet’s disease (n = 21), Still’s disease (n = 21), sarcoidosis (n = 18), undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (n = 15), and dermatomyositis (n = 11)