Table 3

Baseline characteristics of included rheumatologists and patients

CharacteristicResults
Rheumatologists (n=14)
Age, in years*45.2 (39.5 to 56.7)
Female gender (%)46.2
PhD degree or pursuing a PhD (%)69.2
Experience as rheumatologist, in years*6.9 (3.6 to 19.9)
Patient contact per week* (%)60.0 (45.0 to 70.0)
Guideline knowledge† (0–10); (−5.2 to 10)
 General8.1 (1.0)
 Specific6.2 (1.8)
Guideline agreement† (0–5)
 General4.8 (0.5)
 Specific4.5 (0.5)
Outcome expectancy† (0–5)3.9 (0.8)
Cognitive bias† (0–22)12.5 (4.2)
Thinking styles† (0–100)
 Rational79.5 (9.2)
 Experiential63.7 (7.5)
Numeracy† (0–7)6.6 (1.1)
Personality† (0–5)
 Extraversion3.4 (0.7)
 Neuroticism2.8 (0.4)
 Openness to experience3.7 (0.6)
 Consciousness3.7 (0.4)
 Agreeableness3.8 (0.3)
Patients (n=137)
Age, in years†58.9 (14.1)
Female gender (%)67.2
Disease duration, in years*0 (0 to 7)
RF and/or aCCP positive (%)85.4
Erosions (%)38.3
ESR* (mm/h)25 (12 to 36)
Comorbidity (%)66.4
Number of available DMARD treatment options*‡15 (14 to 15)
  • *Median (IQR).

  • †Mean (SD).

  • ‡Includes both conventional and biological DMARD treatment options.

  • aCCP, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody; DMARD, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; RF, rheumatoid factor.