Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of the cohort. Univariate comparisons between patients under SD and LD rituximab
| All patients (n = 361) | Standard dose (n = 280) | Low dose (n = 81) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender (female) | 301 (83.4%) | 234 (83.6%) | 67 (82.7%) | 0.855 |
| Age (years), mean (SD) | 61.9 (10.6) | 62.3 (10.4) | 60.3 (11.5) | 0.130 |
| Seropositive | 171 (50.3%) | 97 (44.7%) | 49 (67.1%) | 0.001 |
| Rheumatoid factor positive | 134 (40.2%) | 94 (36.9%) | 40 (51.3%) | 0.023 |
| ACPA positive | 124 (42.0%) | 84 (38.0%) | 34 (45.9%) | 0.016 |
| Disease duration, median (min, max, IQR) | 5 (1, 51; 9) | 5 (1, 51; 9) | 6 (1, 37; 8) | 0.031 |
| RTX biologic treatment number, median (min, max; IQR) | 3 (1, 7; 2) | 3 (1,7; 2) | 2 (1,6; 2) | 0.023 |
| Ever smoker | 101 (41.7%) | 70 (39.1%) | 31 (49.2%) | 0.162 |
| Co-morbidities | ||||
| RCDI, median (min, max; IQR) | 2 (0, 7; 3) | 2 (0,7;3) | 2 (0,7;4) | 0.369 |
| Total number of comorbidities, median (min, max; IQR) | 4 (0, 15; 7) | 4 (0, 15; 7) | 4 (0; 14; 6) | 0.613 |
| Circulatory-metabolic | ||||
| Hypertension | 166 (46.0%) | 135 (48.2%) | 31 (38.3%) | 0.114 |
| Dyslipidemia | 159 (44.0%) | 124 (44.3%) | 35 (43.2%) | 0.864 |
| Obesity | 143 (39.6%) | 110 (39.3%) | 33 (40.7%) | 0.814 |
| Type-II diabetes | 66 (18.3%) | 51 (18.2%) | 15 (18.5%) | 0.950 |
| Hypothyroidism | 84 (23.3%) | 60 (21.4%) | 24 (29.6%) | 0.124 |
| Ischemic stroke TIA | 12 (3.3%) | 11 (3.9%) | 1 (1.2%) | 0.313 |
| Cardiac | ||||
| Valvular heart disease | 30 (8.3%) | 18 (6.4%) | 12 (14.8%) | 0.016 |
| Coronary heart disease | 28 (7.8%) | 19 (6.8%) | 8 (9.9%) | 0.352 |
| Cardiac arrythmia | 18 (5.0%) | 14 (5.0%) | 4 (4.9%) | 0.981 |
| Congestive heart failure | 17 (4.7%) | 11 (3.9%) | 6 (7.4%) | 0.193 |
| Pulmonary | ||||
| COPD | 27 (7.5%) | 18 (6.4%) | 9 (11.1%) | 0.158 |
| Asthma | 20 (5.5%) | 17 (6.1%) | 3 (3.7%) | 0.583 |
| Psychiatric | ||||
| Depression | 71 (19.7%) | 63 (22.5%) | 17 (20.1%) | 0.352 |
| Anxiety disorder | 15 (4.2%) | 10 (3.6%) | 5 (6.2%) | 0.301 |
| Infectious history | ||||
| Hospitalization for serious infection | 84 (23.3%) | 65 (23.2%) | 19 (23.5%) | 0.964 |
| Recurrent hospitalizations for serious infections | 29 (8.0%) | 24 (8.6%) | 5 (6.2%) | 0.484 |
| Latent TB | 46 (12.7%) | 40 (14.3%) | 6 (7.4%) | 0.102 |
| Viral hepatitis (HCV/past HBV) | 13 (3.6%) | 8 (2.9%) | 5 (6.2%) | 0.158 |
| Past herpes zoster | 8 (2.2%) | 4 (1.4%) | 4 (4.9%) | 0.079 |
| Cancers | ||||
| Hodgkin lymphoma | 6 (1.7%) | 5 (1.8%) | 1 (1.2%) | 0.733 |
| Non-Hodgkin lymphoma | 3 (0.8%) | 1 (0.4%) | 2 (2.5%) | 0.128 |
| Leukemia | 4 (1.1%) | 3 (1.1%) | 1 (1.2%) | 0.902 |
| Solid tumor | 23 (6.4%) | 13 (4.6%) | 5 (6.2%) | 0.567 |