Table 2.
Demographic, clinical, treatment and radiographic characteristics of the patients included in the csDMARD-to-TNFI and TNFI cohorts
| csDMARD-to-TNFI cohort | TNFI cohort | Patients with radiographs unsuitable for DXR analysis | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time point | Pre-baseline | Baseline | Follow-up | Baseline | Follow-up | Baseline | p valuea |
| No. of patients | 135 | 135 | 135 | 350 | 350 | 580 | |
| Age (years) | 55 (44–62) | 57 (47–64) | 59 (48–65) | 56.5 (47–64) | 58 (48–66) | 57 (49–64) | 0.44* |
| Women (%) | 85 | 85 | 85 | 79 | 79 | 75 | 0.08** |
| Disease duration (years) | 4.5 (1–10) | 6 (4–12) | 8 (5–14) | 8 (4–14) | 10 (6–15) | 10 (5–18) | 0.004 * |
| DAS28 | 4.3 (3.0–5.3) | 5.3 (4.4–6.1) | 3.1 (2.2–3.9) | 5.3 (4.5–6.1) | 3.0 (2.1–4.0) | 5.4 (4.7–6.2) | 0.24* |
| CRP (mg/l) | 16 (8–33) | 18 (8–40) | 8 (4–14) | 17 (8–35) | 8 (3–14) | 19 (8–42) | 0.09* |
| IgM-RF positivity (%) | 71 | 71 | 71 | 76 | 76 | 79 | 0.77** |
| Current smokers (%) | 36 | 35 | 30 | 34 | 32 | 37 | 0.25** |
| HAQ score | NA | 1.250 (0.750–1.750) | 0.825 (0.250–1.375) | 1.250 (0.750–1.750) | 0.875 (0.250–1.375) | 0.875 (0.250–1.500) | <0.001 * |
| Previous csDMARDs (n) | NA | 3 (3–4) | – | 3 (2–4) | – | 3 (2–4) | 0.26* |
| Length of TNFI period (days) | – | – | 574 (405–759) | – | 511 (381–695) | 538 (397–761) | 0.03 * |
| Concomitant MTX (%) | 93 | 83 | 74 | 78 | 72 | 75 | 0.32** |
| Corticosteroid treatment (%) | – | 88c | 76d | 71c | 64d | 57d | 0.03 ** |
| Prednisolone dosage (mg/day)b | – | 1.32 (0.4–5.2)c | 1.33 (0.4–3.8)d | 1.8 (0.5–5.1)c | 2.0 (0.5–4.6)d | 2.7 (0.6–5.6)d | 0.02 * |
| Type of TNFI (n (%)) | |||||||
| INF | 101 (75) | 218 (62) | |||||
| ETA | 17 (12) | 68 (20) | |||||
| ADA | 18 (13) | 64 (18) | |||||
| Treatment at follow-up (n (%)) | |||||||
| On first TNFI | 79 (59) | 216 (62) | |||||
| Switched from first TNFI | 38 (27) | 94 (27) | |||||
| Withdrawn from TNFI | 18 (14) | 40 (11) | |||||
| Sharp score (TSS units) | 6 (0–21) | 10 (1–29) | 12 (2–31) | 11 (2–34) | 12 (3–35) | 17 (3–53) | 0.001 * |
| Sharp score (TSS units) (mean (SD)) | 16 (22) | 19 (24) | 20 (24.6) | 22 (27) | 23 (27) | 36 (45) | 0.001 *** |
| Erosive disease (%) | 70 | 76 | 77 | 81 | 81 | 83 | 0.55** |
| DXR-BMD (g/cm2) (mean (SD)) | 0.529 (0.09) | 0.506 (0.10) | 0.495 (0.10) | 0.502 (0.10) | 0.490 (0.10) | NA | |
aComparing TNFI cohort with the cohort of patients with radiographs unsuitable for DXR (values in bold are significant)
bAll administered corticosteroids (peroral, intra-articular and intramuscular) were converted to a corresponding daily dosage of prednisolone in patients who had received corticosteroids at least once
cIn the csDMARD period
d In the TNFI period. Medians (interquartile range) are presented unless otherwise indicated.
*Mann-Whitney
**Chi-square
***Students t-test
ADA Adalimumab, CRP C-reactive protein, csDMARD Conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug, DAS28 Disease activity score in 28 joints based on three variables including CRP, DXR Digital x-ray radiogrammetry, DXR-BMD Bone mineral density measured by digital x-ray radiogrammetry, ETA Etanercept, HAQ Health assessment questionnaire, IgM-RF Immunoglobulin M rheumatoid factor, INF Infliximab, NA not available, SD Standard deviation, TSS Total Sharp Score, MTX Methotrexate, TNFI Tumour necrosis factor inhibitor