Characteristics and treatment details of Belgian, Dutch and Swedish patients, grouped by time point (t1 or t2)
| Belgium | The Netherlands | Sweden | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | t1 (n=26) | t2 (n=14) | t1 (n=23) | t2 (n=15) | t1 (n=31) | t2 (n=22) |
| Individual interviews | 26 | 0 | 23 | 8 | 31 | 5 |
| Focus groups | NA | 3 (n=14) | NA | 2 (n=7) | NA | 7 (n=17) |
| Site of recruitment, n (%) | ||||||
| General hospital | 8 (31) | 5 (36) | 21 (91) | 14 (93) | NA | NA |
| Academic hospital | 9 (35) | 6 (43) | 2 (9) | 1 (7) | 28 (90) | 20 (91) |
| Private practice | 9 (35) | 3 (21) | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Regional rheumatology specialist outpatient clinic | NA | NA | NA | NA | 3 (10) | 2 (9) |
| Disease duration in months, median (range) | 4 (3–7) | 15 (12–17) | 6 (3–7) | 17 (12–20) | 5 (3–9) | 18 (12–21) |
| Age in years, median (range) | 55 (22–68) | 57 (23–66) | 60 (22–83) | 58 (23–83) | 56 (38–80) | 57 (42–81) |
| Women, n (%) | 18 (69) | 9 (64) | 13 (57) | 8 (53) | 22 (71) | 15 (68) |
| Level of education*, n (%) | ||||||
| Low | 8 (31) | 5 (36) | 12 (52) | 8 (53) | 8 (26) | 5 (23) |
| Moderate | 9 (35) | 5 (36) | 5 (22) | 3 (20) | 15 (48) | 11 (50) |
| High | 9 (35) | 4 (28) | 6 (26) | 4 (27) | 8 (26) | 6 (27) |
| Currently employed, n (%) | 15 (58) | 8 (57) | 11(48) | 6 (40) | 14 (45) | 12 (55) |
| General health score†, median (range) | 24 (0–64) | 38 (0–80) | 21 (0–90) | 25 (0–69) | 26 (0–80) | 25 (0–95) |
| Pain score†, median (range) | 22 (0–65) | 37 (0–80) | 12 (0–74) | 20 (0–47) | 27 (0–70) | 20 (0–50) |
| Fatigue score†, median (range) | 29 (0–64) | 37 (0–80) | 39 (1–87) | 28 (3–70) | 30 (0–95) | 40 (0–100) |
| Current RA treatment, n (%) | ||||||
| csDMARD(s) | 25 (96) | 10 (71) | 18 (78) | 7 (47) | 24 (77) | 14 (64) |
| bDMARD(s) | NA | 4 (29) | 2 (9) | 6 (40) | 6 (19) | 5 (23) |
| Discontinued treatment | 1 (4) | NA | 3 (13) | 1 (7) | 1 (3) | 3 (14) |
| Unknown | NA | NA | NA | 1 (7) | NA | NA |
*Low: no diploma, lower secondary education; moderate: higher secondary education; high: higher education.
†Position marked on a visual analogue scale (100 mm) from best (left side: 0/100) to worst (right side: 100/100).
bDMARD(s), biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drug(s); (cs)DMARD(s), conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug(s); NA, not applicable; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; t, time point.