Table 2.
Baseline characteristics
| Use following csDMARD-IR | Use following first bDMARD-IR | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abatacept | TNFi | p value | Abatacept | TNFi | p value | |
| n | 92 | 613 | – | 105 | 212 | – |
| Age, years | 49.3 (13.6) | 47.3 (13.2) | 0.1871 | 45.9 (14.4) | 45.5 (13.0) | 0.8197 |
| Disease duration, years | 7.0 (7.8) | 6.8 (7.7) | 0.7980 | 12.1 (10.4) | 10.0 (8.8) | 0.0660 |
| Female, n (%) | 71 (77.2) | 476 (77.7) | 0.8940 | 84 (80.0) | 156 (73.6) | 0.2655 |
| Concomitant medication use, n (%) | ||||||
| csDMARDs | 87 (94.6) | 567 (92.5) | 1.0000 | 87 (82.9) | 174 (82.1) | 1.0000 |
| MTX | 69 (75.0) | 466 (76.0) | 0.7955 | 69 (65.7) | 142 (67.0) | 0.8994 |
| HCQ | 72 (78.3) | 350 (57.1) | < 0.0001 | 43 (41.0) | 72 (34.0) | 0.2640 |
| SSZ | 11 (12.0) | 45 (7.3) | 0.1455 | 9 (8.6) | 10 (4.7) | 0.2095 |
| LEF | 7 (7.6) | 54 (8.8) | 0.8434 | 7 (6.7) | 16 (7.5) | 1.0000 |
| Corticosteroids | 45 (48.9) | 282 (46.0) | 0.6542 | 73 (69.5) | 93 (43.9) | < 0.0001 |
| Number of oral corticosteroid prescriptions per 100 person-years of treatment | 81.24 | 44.02 | 99.03 | 76.23 | ||
| TNFi used, n (%) | N/A | N/A | ||||
| Adalimumab | 146 (23.8) | 58 (27.4) | ||||
| Certolizumab | 62 (10.1) | 27 (12.7) | ||||
| Etanercept | 239 (39.0) | 69 (32.5) | ||||
| Golimumab | 105 (17.1) | 29 (13.7) | ||||
| Infliximab (Remicade) | 60 (9.8) | 26 (12.3) | ||||
| Infliximab (Inflectra) | 1 (0.2) | 3 (1.4) | ||||
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Age-adjusted CCI | 2.8 (1.4) | 2.4 (1.3) | 0.2403 | 2.9 (1.8) | 2.6 (1.5) | 0.2228 |
| Hyperlipidemia, n (%) | 28 (30.4) | 193 (31.5) | 0.9044 | 42 (40.0) | 75 (35.4) | 0.4589 |
| Hyperglycemia, n (%) | 13 (14.1) | 82 (13.4) | 0.8699 | 11 (10.5) | 32 (15.1) | 0.2987 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 37 (40.2) | 290 (47.3) | 0.2187 | 58 (55.2) | 110 (51.9) | 0.6329 |
| COPD, n (%) | 37 (40.2) | 194 (31.6) | 0.1211 | 43 (41.0) | 76 (35.8) | 0.3905 |
| CVD, n (%) | 11 (12.0) | 75 (12.2) | 1.0000 | 19 (18.1) | 37 (17.5) | 0.8769 |
| Charlson Comorbidity Index | 1.4 (0.9) | 1.2 (0.7) | 0.0039 | 1.4 (1.2) | 1.3 (0.8) | 0.59 |
| RF+, n (%) | 69 (75.0) | 424 (69.2) | 0.2680 | 73 (69.5) | 141 (66.5) | 0.7020 |
| ACPA+, n (%) | 56 (60.9) | 358 (58.4) | 1.0000 | 55 (52.4) | 107 (50.5) | 1.0000 |
| ESR, mm/h | 18.7 (16.0) | 24.5 (19.8) | 0.0080 | 21.9 (19.2) | 24.8 (20.8) | 0.3164 |
| CRP, mg/L | 14.30 (20.20) | 12.90 (20.40) | 0.5875 | 16.30 (23.40) | 11.80 (19.40) | 0.1226 |
| Patient-reported outcomes | ||||||
| Patient global, VAS 0–10 | 5.6 (2.4) | 4.8 (2.8) | 0.0430 | 5.2 (2.7) | 4.4 (2.9) | 0.0324 |
| Patient pain, VAS 0–10 | 6.1 (2.6) | 5.3 (3.0) | 0.0401 | 5.7 (3.0) | 5.0 (3.1) | 0.1157 |
| Patient fatigue, VAS 0–10 | 5.8 (2.8) | 4.7 (3.2) | 0.0099 | 5.7 (2.8) | 4.8 (3.3) | 0.0597 |
| Morning stiffness, min | 155.0 (308.3) | 120.9 (274.1) | 0.3676 | 127.3 (294.7) | 93.0 (244.5) | 0.3597 |
| HAQ | 1.31 (0.61) | 1.24 (0.60) | 0.3661 | 1.51 (0.60) | 1.18 (0.66) | 0.0006 |
| Physician global, VAS 0–10 | 4.8 (2.7) | 4.0 (2.6) | 0.0370 | 4.0 (2.6) | 3.4 (2.6) | 0.2256 |
| Swollen joint count, 0–28 | 8.5 (5.2) | 7.4 (5.3) | 0.1409 | 7.7 (5.3) | 6.5 (6.0) | 0.1755 |
| Tender joint count, 0–28 | 6.8 (6.4) | 6.6 (5.7) | 0.8451 | 7.3 (6.1) | 5.4 (5.9) | 0.0481 |
| Disease activity measures | ||||||
| CDAI | 26.3 (12.7) | 23.5 (11.7) | 0.1416 | 24.8 (11.0) | 18.8 (12.5) | 0.0069 |
| SDAI | 28.6 (13.1) | 24.7 (12.0) | 0.0639 | 26.3 (11.7) | 20.4 (12.6) | 0.0140 |
| DAS28-4, ESR | 4.8 (1.3) | 4.7 (1.3) | 0.7557 | 4.8 (1.2) | 4.5 (1.4) | 0.3621 |
Data are mean (SD), unless stated otherwise
ACPA anti-citrullinated protein antibody, bDMARD biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, CCI Charlson Comorbidity Index, CDAI Clinical Disease Activity Index, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, CRP C-reactive protein, csDMARD conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, CVD cardiovascular disease, DAS28-4 disease activity score in 28 joints (four variables), ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HAQ Health Assessment Questionnaire, HCQ hydroxychloroquine, IR inadequate response, LEF leflunomide, MTX methotrexate, RF rheumatoid factor, SDAI Simplified Disease Activity Index, SSZ sulfasalazine, TNFi tumor necrosis factor inhibitor, VAS visual analog scale