Table 3.
Prevalence and demographic correlates of disease burden and treatment burden
| Disease burden | Treatment burden | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pain interference T-scorea | Morning stiffness | Serious medication side effect | Intolerance to methotrexateb | |
| Mean (SD) | % >15 mins | % Yes | % Intolerant | |
| Total (N = 180) | 50.1 (11.1) | 17.8% | 26.7% | 42.2% |
| Disease duration | ||||
| > 8 years | 50.3 (11.8) | 24.0% | 32.0% | 41.9% |
| ≤ 8 years | 49.9 (10.6) | 13.3% | 22.9% | 42.4% |
| p-value | 0.8676 | 0.0650 | 0.1715 | 0.9682 |
| Age group | ||||
| ≥ 13 years | 51.3 (11.7) | 25.3% | 39.2% | 40.0% |
| < 13 years | 49.1 (10.5) | 11.9% | 16.8% | 43.6% |
| p-value | 0.1481 | 0.0193 | 0.0007 | 0.7335 |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 50.3 (11.1) | 18.1% | 26.1% | 48.5% |
| Male | 49.3 (11.1) | 16.7% | 28.6% | 22.7% |
| p-value | 0.5835 | 0.8297 | 0.7499 | 0.0332 |
| Race/Ethnicity | ||||
| White non-Hispanic | 49.2 (10.7) | 19.2% | 26.7% | 40.6% |
| Other | 53.8 (12.0) | 11.8% | 26.5% | 47.6% |
| p-value | 0.0266 | 0.3086 | 0.9771 | 0.5674 |
| Highest parental education | ||||
| ≤ High school graduate | 50.2 (10.6) | 22.9% | 27.1% | 42.9% |
| Any college | 50.0 (11.3) | 15.9% | 26.5% | 42.0% |
| p-value | 0.7779 | 0.2768 | 0.9392 | 0.9464 |
Data are presented as mean and standard deviation (SD) for pain interference and as row percentages for other outcomes
P-values derived from the chi-squared (χ2) or Wilcoxon tests
Disease duration was dichotomized using the sample mean rounded to the nearest integer as the cut point
aRaw pain interference scores were transformed into a ‘T-score’ for each participant. The T-score rescales the raw score into a standardized score with a mean of 50, standard deviation of 10, and possible range of 38–78
bIntolerance to methotrexate was assessed only among those who were on methotrexate (N = 90)