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. 2018 Dec 2;8(11):bmjopen-2018-023552. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-023552

Table 1.

Characteristics of patients visiting the Early Arthritis Recognition Clinic

Derivation
(n=644)
Validation (n=644) P values*
Male, n (%) 190 (30) 198 (31) 0.62
Age in years, mean±SD 52±16 51±17 0.27
Symptom duration in weeks, median (IQR) 10 (3–45) 12 (4–45) 0.18
Acute onset of symptoms†, n (%) 252 (39) 238 (37) 0.45
Symptoms worst in the early morning, n (%) 372 (58) 351 (55) 0.10
Morning stiffness in minutes, median (IQR) 10 (0–30) 10 (0–30) 0.33
Number of painful joints, median (IQR) 7 (2–15) 6 (3–15) 0.69
Number of patient-reported swollen joints, median (IQR) 2 (1–5) 2 (1–5) 0.19
Difficulty with making a fist, n (%) 329 (51) 301 (47) 0.06
Arthritis present at joint examination by experienced rheumatologist, n (%) 271 (42) 252 (39) 0.28

*Unpaired t-tests, χ2 tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were used as appropriate.

†Patients were asked to define onset of symptoms; either acute onset of symptoms or gradual onset of symptoms, see online supplementary appendix S1.