Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients treated with abatacept.
| Variable | Baseline | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | Mean ± Standard Deviation | |
| Sex | |||
| Female | 78 | 71.56 | - |
| Male | 31 | 28.44 | - |
| Smoking | |||
| Smokers | 15 | 13.76 | - |
| Former-smokers | 11 | 10.09 | - |
| Non smokers | 83 | 76.15 | - |
| Age at RA diagnosis | 109 | - | 44.94 ± 14.46 |
| Disease duration (years) | 109 | - | 16 (8–22) |
| Age at ABA start | 109 | - | 56.37 ± 13.05 |
| Duration of ABA (months) | 109 | - | 28 (14–46) |
| ABA administration | |||
| Subcutaneous | 60 | 55.05 | - |
| Intravenous | 49 | 44.95 | - |
| Concomitant csDMARDs | |||
| Methotrexate | 38 | 34.86 | - |
| Leflunomide | 14 | 12.84 | - |
| Others | 2 | 1.83 | - |
| None | 55 | 50.45 | |
| Concomitant glucocorticoids | |||
| No | 18 | 16.51 | - |
| Yes | 91 | 83.49 | - |
| Monotherapy | |||
| No | 103 | 94.50 | - |
| Yes | 6 | 5.50 | - |
| Number of previous BTs | 109 | - | 2 (1–3) |
| Duration of previous BTs (months) | 109 | - | 36 (12–60) |
| Previous BTs | |||
| Bionaive | 16 | 14.68 | - |
| 1 TNFi | 29 | 26.61 | - |
| 2 TNFis | 31 | 28.44 | - |
| 3 or more TNFis | 33 | 30.28 | - |
| Suspension reason of ABA | |||
| Primary failure | 25 | 22.94 | - |
| Secondary failure | 9 | 8.26 | - |
| Adverse reaction | 6 | 5.50 | - |
| No suspension | 69 | 63.30 | - |
| Rheumatoid factor | |||
| Negative | 22 | 20.18 | - |
| Positive | 87 | 79.82 | - |
| ACPAs | |||
| Negative | 30 | 27.52 | - |
| Positive | 79 | 72.48 | - |
| DAS28 | 109 | - | 4.77 ± 1.43 |
| NPJ | 109 | - | 7 (3–10) |
| NIJ | 109 | - | 3 (1–6) |
| PVAS | 109 | - | 70 (50–80) |
| CRP | 109 | - | 2.42 (1.40–5.00) |
| ESR | 109 | - | 22 (10–38) |
| HAQ | 109 | - | 1.75 (1.25–2.00) |
ABA, abatacept; ACPAs, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies; BT, biological therapy; CRP, C-reactive protein; csDMARDs, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; DAS28, 28-joints Disease Activity Score; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire score; NIJ, number of inflamed joints; NPJ, number of painful joints; PVAS, patient’s visual analogue scale; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TNFi, tumor necrosis factor inhibitor. Qualitative variables are shown as number (percentage, %). Quantitative variables with a normal distribution are shown as mean ± standard deviation. Quantitative variables with a non-normal distribution are shown as p50 (p25–p75).