Table 1.
Characteristics of the cohort of 6801 Italian patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis/severe psoriasis, or ankylosing spondylitis (categorical variables).
| No hospitalization for infection (N = 6512) | Hospitalization for infection (N = 289) | Total (N = 6801) | P of Chi-squared test | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | ||
| Sex | 0.1032 | |||
| Female | 4225 (95.5) | 201 (4.5) | 4426 (1 0 0) | |
| Male | 2287 (96.3) | 88 (3.7) | 2375 (1 0 0) | |
| Age category | <0.0001 | |||
| <40 | 1197 (97.8) | 27 (2.2) | 1224 (1 0 0) | |
| 40–64 | 3952 (97.1) | 119 (2.9) | 4071 (1 0 0) | |
| ≥65 | 1363 (90.5) | 143 (9.5) | 1506 (1 0 0) | |
| Rheumatic disease | <0.0001 | |||
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 3656 (94.8) | 200 (5.2) | 3856 (1 0 0) | |
| Psoriatic arthritis/severe psoriasis | 2074 (97.0) | 65 (3.0) | 2139 (1 0 0) | |
| Ankylosing spondylitis | 782 (97.0) | 24 (3.0) | 806 (1 0 0) | |
| First exemption before 2011 | <0.0001 | |||
| No | 3961 (97.4) | 105 (2.6) | 4067 (1 0 0) | |
| Yes | 2551 (93.3) | 183 (6.7) | 2734 (1 0 0) | |
| Cumulative steroid use >180 days | <0.0001 | |||
| No | 5779 (96.3) | 223 (3.7) | 6002 (1 0 0) | |
| Yes | 733 (91.7) | 66 (8.3) | 799 (1 0 0) | |
| Any biological drug prescription | 0.9336 | |||
| No | 5263 (95.8) | 233 (4.2) | 5496 (1 0 0) | |
| Yes | 1249 (95.7) | 56 (4.3) | 1305 (1 0 0) |