Table 1. Patient characteristics (n = 5,479).

^*

Age, years	61.8 ± 13.0 (17–96)
Female, no. (%)	4,708 (85.9)
Disease duration, years	15.7 ± 10.2 (0–65)
DAS28	2.64 ± 1.0 (0.0–7.0)
J-HAQ	0.56 ± 0.7 (0–3)
RF, IU/mL	103.1 ± 226.7 (3–7,150)
Therapeutic drugs
NSAID use, no. (%)	2,636 (48.1)
PSL use, no. (%)	1,516 (27.7)
PSL dose, mg/day	1.0 ± 2.1 (0–18)
MTX use, no. (%)	4,205 (76.7)
MTX dose, mg/week	6.0 ± 4.8 (0–20)
Biologic DMARD use, no. (%)	1,216 (22.2)

*Values are mean ± standard deviation (range), unless indicated otherwise. DAS28 = Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; J-HAQ = the Japanese version of the Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire; RF = rheumatoid factor; NSAID = nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug; PSL = prednisolone; MTX = methotrexate; DMARD = disease-modifying antirheumatic drug.