Table 1.
Baseline characteristics at start of U-Act-Early of patients included in the post-trial follow-up study (n = 226)a
| TCZ+MTX (n = 75) | TCZ (n = 79) | MTX (n = 72) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female, n (%) | 47 (63) | 61 (77) | 48 (67) | 0.13 |
| RF+, n (%) | 53 (71) | 55 (71) | 58 (82) | 0.21 |
| Anti CCP+, n (%) | 51 (68) | 54 (69) | 56 (79) | 0.28 |
| RF+ and/or anti-CCP+, n (%) | 55 (73) | 62 (79) | 64 (89) | 0.06 |
| Caucasian, n (%) | 71 (95) | 77 (97) | 71 (99) | 0.47 |
| Smoking status, n (%) | 0.81 | |||
| Never smoked | 29 (39) | 34 (43) | 28 (39) | |
| Quit smoking | 21 (28) | 24 (30) | 25 (35) | |
| Current smoker | 25 (33) | 21 (27) | 19 (26) | |
| Age, mean (s.d.), years | 53.8 (11.2) | 55.5 (11.6) | 53.7 (12.9) | 0.63 |
| Symptom duration, median (IQR), days | 27 (18–43) | 25 (19–43) | 28 (16–46) | 0.96 |
| DAS28, mean (s.d.) | 5.1 (1.1) | 5.3 (1.1) | 5.0 (1.2) | 0.33 |
| HAQ, median (IQR) | 1.3 (0.6–1.6) | 1.3 (0.9–1.8) | 1.0 (0.5–1.4) | 0.17 |
| SvdH score, median (IQR) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 0.24 |
a
According to their initial treatment strategy as randomized. Anti-CCP: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies; DAS28: disease activity score assessing 28 joints; HAQ: health assessment questionnaire; IQR: interquartile range; MTX: methotrexate + placebo–tocilizumab initiation strategy group; RF: rheumatoid factor; SvdH: Sharp–van der Heijde score; TCZ: tocilizumab + placebo–methotrexate initiation strategy group; TCZ+MTX: tocilizumab + methotrexate initiation strategy group.