Table 1.
Baseline demographics and clinical characteristics
| Demographic variables | |
| Patients | 97 |
| Age, years* | 57 (11) |
| Female gender | 72 (74%) |
| Disease duration, years† |
11.3 (7.3–16.7) |
| Smoking status | |
| Ex-smoker | 32 (38%) |
| Current | 12 (14%) |
| BMI | 25.4 (22.6–29.4) |
| Clinical variables | |
| Treatment csDMARD | |
| Methotrexate | 67 (69%) |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 7 (7%) |
| Sulfasalazine | 4 (4%) |
| Leflunomide | 4 (4%) |
| csDMARD combination | 15 (15%) |
| Treatment bDMARD | |
| Adalimumab | 54 (56%) |
| Etanercept | 43 (44%) |
| Radiographic damage (Larsen score)† |
51 (16–82) |
| Tender joint counts (28 joints)† |
0 (0–1) |
| Swollen joint counts (28 joints)† |
0 (0–0) |
| Patient global assessment (mm)† | 5 (1–16) |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate(mm/hour)† | 8 (5–19) |
| C-reactive protein (mg/L)† | 5 (2–6) |
| DAS28-ESR† | 2.0 () |
| DAS28-ESR<2.6 (remission) | 73 (75%) |
| Mental health variables | |
| Health Assessment Questionnaire score† | 0.50 (0.13–1.38) |
| EQ-5D-3L score† | 0.76 (0.66–1.00) |
| EQ-5D-3L depression question | 21 (22%) |
| FACIT fatigue scale | 41 (35–46) |
| SF-36 | |
| Physical component summary* | 45 (34 – 52) |
| Mental component summary* | 57 (49 – 60) |
| SF-36 MH score† | 84 (72–92) |
| SF-36 MH (score<56) | 10 (10%) |
| Treatment arm | |
| Experimental 1 (taper 1/3rd) | 26 (27%) |
| Experimental 2 (taper 2/3rd) | 21 (22%) |
| Control A (taper 1/3rd) | 27 (28%) |
| Control B (taper 2/3rd) | 23 (24%) |
All values are gives as number (%) unless otherwise specified.
*Mean (SD).
†Median (p25–p75).
BMI, body mass index; bDMARD, biological DMARD; csDMARD, conventional synthetic DMARD; EQ-5D, EuroQol 5-dimension scale; FACIT-F, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy fatigue scale; SF-36 MH, SF-36 Mental Health subscale.