Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of untreated early RA patients in each respective treatment arm
| MTX + CTLA-4Ig (n = 17) | MTX + anti-IL6R (n = 21) | MTX + anti-TNF (n = 22) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yearsa | 61 (21-77) | 51 (25-72) | 60.5 (21-71) | 0.22c |
| Symptom duration, monthsa,b | 6 (2-23) | 6 (1.5-21) | 4.5 (1-18) | 0.62c |
| Female sex, n (%) | 12 (71) | 14 (67) | 13 (59) | 0.79d |
| Smoker (%)e | 2 (12) | 4 (19) | 4 (18) | 0.83d |
| CRP, mg/La | 10 (2-92) | 6 (0.3-25) | 18.5 (2-180) | 0.04c |
| ESR, mm/ha | 28 (8-101) | 19 (5-37) | 32.5 (7-98) | 0.03c |
| SJC66a | 8 (3-19) | 12 (3-17) | 11.5 (3-28) | 0.23c |
| TJC68a | 13 (3-25) | 12 (2-47) | 14.5 (2-35) | 0.60c |
| SJC28a | 6 (3-14) | 9 (2-13) | 7.5 (3-24) | 0.51c |
| TJC28a | 9 (0-13) | 8 (0-24) | 7.5 (1-27) | 0.86c |
| DAS28-CRPa | 4.9 (3.8-6.5) | 4.7 (2.7-6.9) | 5.4 (3.2-8.3) | 0.14c |
| DAS28-ESRa | 5.2 (4.2-7.2) | 5.2 (2.6-7.1) | 5.8 (3.6-8.7) | 0.17c |
| CDAIa | 26.0 (14.3-41.7) | 27.8 (10.5-62.1) | 28.1 (10.1-68.7) | 0.77c |
| ACPA+, n (%) | 15 (88) | 18 (86) | 17 (77) | 0.67d |
| RF+, n (%) | 12 (71) | 18 (86) | 13 (59) | 0.17d |
| ACPA+ and RF+, n (%) | 11 (65) | 15 (71) | 13 (59) | 0.70d |
| ACPAneg and RFneg, n (%) | 1 (6) | 0 0 | 5 (23) | 0.03d |
Abatacept (CTLA-4Ig), tocilizumab (anti-IL6R), certolizumab-pegol (anti-TNF). aMedian and range. bRetrospective patient-reported pain in the joints before RA diagnosis. cDifference between treatment arms, Kruskal–Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons. dDifference between treatment arms, Fishers exact test. eCurrent daily smoker.