Table 4.

Characteristics associated with first chronic opioid in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Characteristic	Hazard Ratio* (95% CI)	P-value
Smoking Status (vs. Never smokers)		0.19
Former	1.23 (0.70, 2.15)
Current	1.75 (0.96, 3.22)
Highest Education (vs. High School)		0.24
Graduate School	1.77 (0.80, 3.94)
Technical School/College	0.81 (0.47, 1.40)
<High School	1.33 (0.54, 3.27)
Treatment for Depression at Index	0.78 (0.34, 1.83)	0.57
Treatment for Fibromyalgia at Index	1.84 (0.58, 5.88)	0.30
Biologic Use Prior to or at Index	1.18 (0.55, 2.50)	0.67
Glucocorticoid Use at Index	2.48 (1.51, 4.06)	<0.001
RF/ACPA positivity	1.27 (0.75, 2.16)	0.37
Rheumatoid nodules	0.82 (0.49, 1.38)	0.46
Erosions/destructive changes at index	1.50 (0.93, 2.41)	0.10
≥3 ESR measures of ≥60 mm/1 hour**	0.72 (0.26, 2.02)	0.54
Years from first joint swelling to fulfillment of criteria for RA	1.00 (0.90, 1.11)	0.98

Abbreviations: CI=confidence interval, RF=rheumatoid factor,

ACPA=anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, ESR=erythrocyte sedimentation rate

^*Adjusted for age, sex and duration of rheumatoid arthritis at index date

^**Prior to index with a minimum interval of 30 days between 2 measurements