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. 2017 Oct 13;15:75. doi: 10.1186/s12969-017-0201-1

Table 2.

Baseline characteristics of the participants

Baseline characteristics Intervention versus Control
Characteristic Total group (n = 67) Intervention group (n = 35) Control group (n = 32)
Gender – female n (%) 59 (88%) 29 (83%) 30 (94%)
Age, mean years (SD) 19.1 (2.7) 19.2 (2.7) 19.1 (2.9)
Education level completed n (%)
 Primary educationa 15 (22%) 10 (29%) 5 (16%)
 Intermediate vocational educationb 35 (52%) 17 (49%) 18 (56%)
 Bachelor or University 17 (25%) 8 (23%) 9 (28%)
Civil status n (%)
 Living at home with parents 53 (79%) 26 (74%) 27 (84%)
 Living independently 14 (21%) 9 (26%) 5 (16%)
Marital status n (%)
 Single 61 (91%) 32 (91%) 29 (91%)
 Living together 3 (5%) 1 (2%) 2 (6%)
 Married 3 (5%) 2 (6%) 1 (3%)
Diagnosed disease n (%)
 Oligo-articular JIA 14 (21%) 8 (23%) 6 (19%)
 Poly-articular JIA 24 (36%) 9 (26%) 15 (47%)
 Systemic JIA 8 (12%) 6 (17%) 2 (6%)
 Other 21 (31%) 12 (34%) 9 (28%)
Duration of the disease (years diagnosed, mean, SD) 10.9 (6.4) 10.1 (6,3) 11.8 (6.5)
Frequency of internet use n(%)
 (Almost) daily 62 (93%) 31 (89%) 31 (97%)
 Several times a week 3 (5%) 2 (6%) 1 (3%)
 Few times a week 1 (2%) 1 (3%)
 Rarely 1 (2%) 1 (3%)
Purpose use internet
 Search health info n(%)
  Not 3 (5%) 2 (6%) 1 (3%)
  Yes, one single time 30 (45%) 18 (51%) 12 (38%)
  Yes, sometimes 28 (28%) 11 (31%) 17 (53%)
  Frequent 6 (9%) 4 (11%) 2 (6%)
 Forum visit health/arthritis
  Not 47 (70%) 23 (66%) 24 (75%)
  Yes, one single time 12 (18%) 7 (20%) 5 (16%)
  Yes, sometimes 6 (9%) 4 (11%) 2 (6%)
  Frequent 2 (3%) 1 (3%) 1 (3%)
 Chat/e-mail with someone with arthritis
  Not 55 (82%) 27 (77%) 28 (88%)
  Yes, one single time 5 (7%) 4 (11%) 1 (3%)
  Yes, sometimes 2 (3%) 2 (6%)
  Frequent 5 (8%) 2 (6%) 3 (9%)
 Visit weblog patient
  Not 55 (82%) 30 (86%) 25 (78%)
  Yes, one single time 9 (13%) 2 (6%) 7 (22%)
  Yes, sometimes 2 (3%) 2 (6%)
  Frequent 1 (2%) 1 (3%)
Relevance internet in relation
 disease, Scale 1–10 (mean) (SD) 3.4 (2.5) 3.1 (2.7) 3.7 (2.1)
 peer support, Scale 1–10 (mean) (SD) 3.0 (2.5) 3.1 (2.6) 3.0 (2.5)

SD standard deviation

aLower vocational education, lower general secondary education

bhigher general secondary education, pre-university education