Table 1.
Patient characteristics at start of first biologic or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (b/tsDMARD), prior imputation, stratified by body mass index (BMI)
| Normal weight (n=306) | Overweight (n=285) | P value | Obese (n=183) | P value | |
| Sex, women | 172 (56.21) | 126 (44.21) | 0.01 | 101 (55.19) | 0.90 |
| Age, years (mean (SD)) | 47.59 (13.20) | 50.60 (12.52) | 0.01 | 49.50 (11.03) | 0.10 |
| High education (high technical school or university) | 80 (26.14) | 42 (14.74) | 0.00 | 27 (14.75) | 0.01 |
| Missing | 54 (17.65) | 51 (17.89) | 41 (22.4) | ||
| Smoker (ever smoker) | 77 (25.16) | 84 (29.47) | 0.28 | 54 (29.51) | 0.35 |
| Disease duration, years (mean (SD)) | 5.85 (8.07) | 5.54 (6.98) | 0.63 | 4.51 (6.02) | 0.06 |
| Missing | 6 (1.96) | 6 (2.11) | 5 (2.73) | ||
| b/tsDMRAD | 0.87 | 0.35 | |||
| TNFi biologic* | 279 (91.18) | 262 (91.93) | 160 (87.43) | ||
| Other biologic | 9 (2.94) | 9 (3.16) | 6 (3.28) | ||
| tsDMARD‡ | 18 (5.88) | 14 (4.91) | 17 (9.29) | ||
| csDMARD at index | 152 (49.67) | 151 (52.98) | 0.47 | 100 (54.64) | 0.33 |
| Corticosteroid (prednisone) at index | 38 (12.42) | 38 (13.33) | 0.83 | 17 (9.29) | 0.36 |
| HLA-B27+ | 39 (12.75) | 28 (9.82) | 0.30 | 20 (10.93) | 0.88 |
| Missing | 141 (46.08) | 132 (46.32) | 92 (50.27) | ||
| ESR (mm/hour) (median (IQR)) | 10.00 (5.00, 22.00) | 12.00 (6.00, 22.00) | 0.15 | 15.00 (6.00, 23.00) | 0.10 |
| Missing | 38 (12.42) | 43 (15.09) | 24 (13.11) | ||
| CRP (mg/dL) (median (IQR)) | 0.52 (0.20, 0.90) | 0.60 (0.30, 1.10) | 0.18 | 0.80 (0.40, 1.20) | 0.03 |
| Missing | 48 (15.69) | 52 (18.25) | 27 (14.75) | ||
| Swollen joint counts (0–66) (mean (SD)) | 4.70 (5.31) | 5.78 (7.17) | 0.05 | 4.88 (5.34) | 0.73 |
| Missing | 36 (11.76) | 18 (6.32) | 18 (9.84) | ||
| Tender joint counts (0–68) (mean (SD)) | 8.20 (9.23) | 9.18 (10.36) | 0.25 | 8.72 (9.80) | 0.58 |
| Missing | 36 (11.76) | 18 (6.32) | 19 (10.38) | ||
| Physician global disease activity (1–10) (mean (SD)) | 4.42 (2.04) | 4.58 (1.88) | 0.32 | 4.41 (1.85) | 0.96 |
| Missing | 16 (5.23) | 9 (3.16) | 6 (3.28) | ||
| Physician global skin manifestation | 0.11 | 0.07 | |||
| None | 75 (24.51) | 48 (16.84) | 31 (16.94) | ||
| Almost none | 55 (17.97) | 55 (19.3) | 34 (18.58) | ||
| Mild | 56 (18.3) | 66 (23.16) | 36 (19.67) | ||
| Mild to moderate | 35 (11.44) | 30 (10.53) | 18 (9.84) | ||
| Moderate | 27 (8.82) | 35 (12.28) | 33 (18.03) | ||
| Moderate to severe | 19 (6.21) | 28 (9.82) | 13 (7.10) | ||
| Severe | 9 (2.94) | 6 (2.11) | 4 (2.19) | ||
| Missing | 30 (9.80) | 17 (5.96) | 14 (7.65) | ||
| Patient’s assessment on PsA activity (1–10) (mean (SD)) | 5.08 (2.73) | 5.57 (2.50) | 0.05 | 6.05 (2.56) | 0.00 |
| Missing | 82 (26.80) | 57 (20.00) | 46 (25.14) | ||
| Patient’s joint pain (1–10) (mean (SD)) | 4.88 (2.65) | 5.48 (2.39) | 0.01 | 6.18 (2.36) | <0.001 |
| Missing | 76 (24.84) | 54 (18.95) | 44 (24.04) | ||
| Musculoskeletal manifestations | 232 (75.82) | 213 (74.74) | 0.84 | 140 (76.50) | 0.95 |
| Dactylitis | 101 (33.01) | 106 (37.19) | 0.33 | 66 (36.07) | 0.55 |
| Enthesitis | 116 (37.91) | 103 (36.14) | 0.72 | 67 (36.61) | 0.85 |
| Sacroilitis | 72 (23.53) | 64 (22.46) | 0.83 | 27 (14.75) | 0.03 |
| Spinal involvement | 81 (26.47) | 70 (24.56) | 0.66 | 40 (21.86) | 0.30 |
| Coxitis | 13 (4.25) | 8 (2.81) | 0.47 | 15 (8.20) | 0.11 |
| Peripheral arthritis | 141 (46.08) | 138 (48.42) | 0.63 | 94 (51.37) | 0.30 |
| Nail manifestation | 64 (20.92) | 62 (21.75) | 0.88 | 47 (25.68) | 0.27 |
| DAPSA (mean (SD)) | 23.14 (15.73) | 27.94 (18.23) | 0.01 | 26.56 (14.18) | 0.07 |
| Missing | 118 (38.56) | 103 (36.14) | 77 (42.08) | ||
| cDAPSA (mean (SD)) | 22.04 (15.21) | 26.39 (17.57) | 0.01 | 25.60 (13.70) | 0.04 |
| Missing | 107 (34.97) | 80 (28.07) | 71 (38.80) | ||
| DAS28-ESR (mean (SD)) | 3.34 (1.26) | 3.61 (1.33) | 0.02 | 3.44 (1.22) | 0.43 |
| Missing | 51 (16.67) | 49 (17.19) | 34 (18.58) | ||
| SF-12 mcs (mean (SD)) | 45.87 (11.36) | 45.11 (11.66) | 0.49 | 43.85 (11.68) | 0.11 |
| Missing | 77 (25.16) | 78 (27.37) | 51 (27.87) | ||
| SF-12 pcs (mean (SD)) | 38.95 (10.67) | 37.63 (9.71) | 0.18 | 35.79 (9.04) | 0.01 |
| Missing | 77 (25.16) | 78 (27.37) | 51 (27.87) | ||
| HAQ (mean (SD)) | 0.71 (0.66) | 0.79 (0.58) | 0.20 | 0.93 (0.61) | 0.00 |
| Missing | 60 (19.61) | 59 (20.70) | 48 (26.23) | ||
| Cardiovascular event/disease | 26 (8.50) | 39 (13.68) | 0.06 | 31 (16.94) | 0.01 |
| Diabetes or other metabolic problems | 10 (3.27) | 20 (7.02) | 0.06 | 14 (7.65) | 0.05 |
| Depression/Anxiety | 13 (4.25) | 17 (5.96) | 0.45 | 10 (5.46) | 0.69 |
Values are the number and column percentage, unless otherwise specified. Significance tests compare overweight or obese categories with the normal weight group (reference) using χ2 test for categorical variables, and t-test or analysis of variance for continuous variables, but Kruskal-Wallis test for ESR and CRP. For these tests, missing values did not function as a grouping variable. Normal weight (BMI <25 kg/m2); overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2); obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m2).
*Adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab, certolizumab, golimumab.
†Abatacept, secukinumab, tocilizumab, ustekinumab.
‡Apremilast.
CRP, C reactive protein; csDMARD, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; DAPSA, Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis; DAS28, 28-joint Disease Activity Score; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; HLA-B27+, human leucocyte antigen B27 positive; mcs, mental component summary; n, sample size; pcs, physical component summary; PsA, psoriasis arthritis; SF-12, Short-Form 12 health survey; TNFi, tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitor.