Baseline demographics and patient characteristics
| Early RA (n=118) | Established RA (n=212) | |
|---|---|---|
| Age, years (mean (SD)) | 50.6 (13.3) | 51.9 (13.3) |
| Female sex (% (n)) | 71.2 (84) | 80.7 (171) |
| Positive anti-CCP (% (n)) | 78.8 (93) | 77.4 (164) |
| Disease duration, years (median (25–75 centile)) | 0.5 (0.2–0.8)* | 8.1 (2.9–14.7)† |
| Disease activity level‡ (% (n)) | ||
| Remission | 2.5 (3) | 8.7 (18) |
| Low disease activity | 12.7 (15) | 7.3 (15) |
| Moderate disease activity | 45.8 (54) | 45.6 (94) |
| High disease activity | 39.0 (46) | 38.3 (79) |
| 28-swollen joint count (median (25–75 centile)) | 6 (3–11) | 5 (2–10) |
| ESR, mm/hour (median (25–75 centile)) | 18 (10–32) | 25 (13–40) |
| CRP, mg/L (median (25–75 percentile)) | 6 (3–15) | 6 (2–15) |
| Investigator's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 40.9 (20.1) | 31.4 (16.4) |
| Patient's global assessment VAS (mean (SD)) | 51.9 (24.7) | 50.3 (27.1) |
| Number of previously used synthetic DMARDs (mean (SD)) | 0 | 2.1 (1.3) |
| Number of previously used biologic DMARDs (mean (SD)) | 0 | 0.8 (1.1) |
*From patient reported first swollen joint.
†From clinical diagnosis by rheumatologist.
‡Based on DAS level in the early RA and DAS28 level in the established RA cohort.
CCP, cyclic citrullinated peptide; CRP, C reactive protein; DAS28, Disease Activity Score-28; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; VAS, visual analogue scale.