Table 1.
Baseline characteristics at first rituximab infusion and follow‐up characteristics (N = 1000).
| Baseline characteristics | Entire study sample (n = 1000) | By diagnosis | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MS (n = 907) | NMOSD (n = 77) | P‐value 1 | |||||
| N or mean | SD or % | N or mean | SD or % | N or mean | SD or % | ||
| Age (Years, SD) | 42.9 | 12.6 | 43.0 | 12.5 | 43.5 | 13.6 | 0.292 |
| Gender – female | 687 | 68.7% | 608 | 67.0% | 66 | 85.7% | <0.001 |
| Race | <0.001 | ||||||
| White | 678 | 67.8% | 644 | 71.0% | 29 | 37.7% | |
| Black | 139 | 13.9% | 111 | 12.2% | 22 | 28.6% | |
| Other | 117 | 11.7% | 93 | 10.3% | 22 | 28.6% | |
| Unknown | 66 | 6.6% | 59 | 6.5% | 4 | 5.2% | |
| Ethnicity | |||||||
| Hispanic | 107 | 10.7% | 88 | 9.7% | 18 | 23.4% | |
| Non‐hispanic | 789 | 78.9% | 728 | 80.3% | 50 | 64.9% | |
| Unknown | 104 | 10.4% | 91 | 10.0% | 9 | 11.7% | |
| Smoking status | 0.074 | ||||||
| Current smoker | 131 | 13.2% | 121 | 13.4% | 8 | 10.5% | |
| Former smoker | 266 | 26.7% | 248 | 27.4% | 13 | 17.1% | |
| Never smoker | 599 | 60.1% | 537 | 59.3% | 55 | 72.4% | |
| Body mass index | 26.9 | 6.5 | 26.9 | 6.5 | 26.9 | 5.8 | 0.292 |
| Disability | 0.445 | ||||||
| No walking device needed | 626 | 63.0% | 560 | 62.0% | 53 | 70.7% | |
| Unilateral support (Cane) | 127 | 12.8% | 120 | 13.3% | 6 | 8.0% | |
| Bilateral support (Walker) | 104 | 10.4% | 97 | 10.7% | 7 | 9.3% | |
| Wheelchair | 137 | 13.8% | 127 | 14.1% | 9 | 12.0% | |
| Diagnosis | |||||||
| Relapsing‐remitting MS | 574 | 57.4% | |||||
| Secondary progressive MS | 215 | 21.5% | |||||
| Primary progressive MS | 118 | 11.8% | |||||
| NMOSD | 77 | 7.7% | |||||
| Other | 16 | 1.6% | |||||
| Disease duration (Year, SD) | 8.5 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 3.0 | 6.0 | <0.001 |
| Last DMT used | <0.001 | ||||||
| Natalizumab | 278 | 27.8% | 276 | 30.4% | 2 | 2.6% | |
| None | 163 | 16.3% | 115 | 12.7% | 38 | 49.4% | |
| Dimethyl fumarate | 153 | 15.3% | 151 | 16.6% | 1 | 1.3% | |
| Fingolimod | 155 | 15.5% | 155 | 17.1% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Glatiramer acetate | 100 | 10.0% | 97 | 10.7% | 2 | 2.6% | |
| Interferon | 66 | 6.6% | 62 | 6.8% | 3 | 3.9% | |
| Teriflunomide | 15 | 1.5% | 15 | 1.7% | 0 | 0.0% | |
| Azathioprine | 15 | 1.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 15 | 19.5% | |
| Mycophenolate mofetil | 10 | 1.0% | 1 | 0.1% | 7 | 9.1% | |
| Other/missing | 47 | 4.7% | 35 | 3.9% | 9 | 11.7% | |
| Time since last DMT (months) | 7.2 | 20.0 | 7.8 | 19.5 | 4.5 | 8.0 | 0.037 |
Bold P‐values indicate P> 0.05 and are considered statistically significant.
N, number; SD, standard deviation; MS, multiple sclerosis; NMOSD, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder; DMT, disease‐modifying therapy.
1
Comparing baseline characteristics of MS and NMOSD patients.