Table 1.
Clinical characteristics of elderly-onset RA at initiation of TNFi or IL-6i
| Characteristic | TNFi (n = 674) |
IL-6i (n = 297) |
P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median years (IQR) | 71 (67–77) | 72 (67–77) | 0.34 |
| Female sex, n (%) | 513 (76.1) | 221 (74.4) | 0.57 |
| Disease duration, median months (IQR) | 32 (12–77) | 39 (16–79) | 0.12 |
| CRP (mg/dL), median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.20–3.1) | 1.74 (0.30–4.5) | 0.02 |
| RF-positive, n (%) | 452 (72.6) | 200 (73.5) | 0.81 |
| ACPA-positive, n (%) | 396 (73.1) | 172 (74.8) | 0.66 |
| Tender joint count, median (IQR) | 3 (1–6) | 2 (1–5) | 0.47 |
| Swollen joint count, median (IQR) | 3 (1–6) | 2 (1–4) | 0.36 |
| PtGA VAS (0–100 mm), median (IQR) | 54 (30–74) | 54 (30–74) | 0.82 |
| PGA VAS (0–100 mm), median (IQR) | 34 (19–55) | 35 (19–54) | 0.99 |
| DAS28-ESR, median (IQR) | 4.6 (3.7–5.5) | 4.6 (3.6–5.5) | 0.66 |
| SDAI, median (IQR) | 17 (11–25) | 16 (10–25) | 0.75 |
| CDAI, median (IQR) | 16 (10–23) | 14 (10–22) | 0.29 |
| HAQ-DI, median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.38–1.75) | 1.0 (0.38–1.88) | 0.65 |
| Concurrent methotrexate use, n (%) | 417 (61.9) | 140 (47.1) | < 0.001 |
| Methotrexate dosage (mg/week), median (IQR) | 8 (6–10) | 8 (6–10) | 0.99 |
| Glucocorticoid use, n (%) | 259 (38.4) | 141 (47.4) | 0.009 |
| Glucocorticoid dosage (mg/day), median (IQR) | 5.0 (3.0–7.0) | 5.0 (4.0–8.0) | 0.52 |
| Sulfasalazine use, n (%) | 152 (22.6) | 70 (23.6) | 0.74 |
| Other csDMARDs use, n (%) | 110 (16.4) | 73 (24.8) | 0.003 |
| 1st bDMARD (%) | 430 (63.8) | 127 (42.8) | < 0.001 |
| 2nd bDMARD (%) | 164 (24.3) | 88 (29.6) | 0.12 |
| ≥3rd bDMARD (%) | 80 (11.9) | 82 (27.6) | < 0.001 |
Data are no. (%) patients or median IQR
Demographic and clinical characteristics at initiation of TNFi or IL-6i summarized as median for continuous data and as numbers (percentages) for categorical data. T test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the chi-squared test were used to compare the clinical characteristics between the 2 groups for continuous variables and categorical variables, respectively. ACPA anti-citrullinated protein antibodies, bDMARDs biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, csDMARDs conventional synthetic DMARDs, CDAI clinical disease activity index, CRP C-reactive protein, DAS28-ESR Disease Activity Score 28-erythrocyte sedimentation rate, EORA elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis, IL-6i interleukin-6 inhibitors, HAQ-DI Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index, PtGA patient global assessment, PGA physician global assessment, RF rheumatoid factor, SDAI simplified disease activity index, TNFi tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, YORA young-onset rheumatoid arthritis, VAS visual analogue scale