Baseline characteristics of study subjects (after propensity score matching)
| Variables | After matching* | |||||
| JAKi User (n=2676) | TNFi user (n=2676) | SMD1 | IL-6i user (n=967) | TNFi user (n=967) | SMD2 | |
| Age at index | ||||||
| Mean±SD | 55.8±13.6 | 56.1±14.0 | 0.016 | 55.5±16.1 | 55.9±15.1 | 0.028 |
| Sex | ||||||
| Female | 2184 (81.6) | 2196 (82.1) | 0.012 | 767 (79.3) | 761 (78.7) | 0.015 |
| Male | 492 (18.4) | 480 (17.9) | 0.012 | 199 (20.6) | 205 (21.2) | 0.015 |
| Race, n (%) | ||||||
| White | 1963 (73.4) | 1977 (73.9) | 0.012 | 710 (73.4) | 714 (73.8) | 0.009 |
| Black or African American | 266 (09.9) | 264 (09.9) | 0.003 | 105 (10.9) | 94 (09.7) | 0.037 |
| Asian | 66 (02.5) | 62 (02.3) | 0.010 | 22 (02.3) | 19 (02.0) | 0.022 |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 11 (00.4) | 10 (00.4) | 0.006 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander | 10 (00.4) | 10 (00.4) | <0.001 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Unknown race | 368 (13.8) | 365 (13.6) | 0.003 | 123 (12.7) | 135 (14.0) | 0.037 |
| Social economic status | ||||||
| Persons with potential health hazards related to socioeconomic and psychosocial circumstances | 16 (00.6) | 18 (00.7) | 0.009 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Lifestyles | ||||||
| Tobacco use (proxy smoking) | 35 (01.3) | 29 (01.1) | 0.021 | 13 (01.3) | 10 (01.0) | 0.029 |
| Nicotine dependence (proxy smoking) | 131 (04.9) | 110 (04.1) | 0.038 | 32 (03.3) | 32 (03.3) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol-related disorders (proxy alcohol drinking) | 14 (00.5) | 10 (00.4) | 0.022 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Comorbidities | ||||||
| Depressive episode | 163 (06.1) | 131 (04.9) | 0.053 | 72 (07.4) | 64 (06.6) | 0.032 |
| Essential (primary) hypertension | 471 (17.6) | 439 (16.4) | 0.032 | 200 (20.7) | 169 (17.5) | 0.082 |
| Ischaemic heart diseases | 99 (03.7) | 97 (03.6) | 0.004 | 43 (04.4) | 40 (04.1) | 0.015 |
| Cerebrovascular diseases | 40 (01.5) | 38 (01.4) | 0.006 | 26 (02.7) | 29 (03.0) | 0.019 |
| Diabetes mellitus | 194 (07.2) | 189 (07.1) | 0.007 | 83 (08.6) | 65 (06.7) | 0.070 |
| Overweight and obesity | 181 (06.8) | 163 (06.1) | 0.027 | 82 (08.5) | 81 (08.4) | 0.004 |
| Hyperlipidaemia, unspecified | 231 (08.6) | 233 (08.7) | 0.003 | 113 (11.7) | 112 (11.6) | 0.003 |
| Diseases of liver | 61 (02.3) | 67 (02.5) | 0.015 | 29 (03.0) | 31 (03.2) | 0.012 |
| Non-infective enteritis and colitis | 59 (02.2) | 38 (01.4) | 0.059 | 15 (01.6) | 12 (01.2) | 0.026 |
| Sleep disorders | 182 (06.8) | 176 (06.6) | 0.009 | 89 (09.2) | 68 (07.0) | 0.080 |
| Psoriasis | 84 (03.1) | 74 (02.8) | 0.022 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 62 (02.3) | 66 (02.5) | 0.010 | 29 (03.0) | 37 (03.8) | 0.046 |
| Chronic lower respiratory diseases | 234 (08.7) | 212 (07.9) | 0.030 | 78 (08.1) | 63 (06.5) | 0.060 |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus | 69 (02.6) | 69 (02.6) | <0.001 | 23 (02.4) | 22 (02.3) | 0.007 |
| Dermatopolymyositis | 25 (00.9) | 19 (00.7) | 0.025 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Sjögren syndrome | 101 (03.8) | 100 (03.7) | 0.002 | 37 (03.8) | 35 (03.6) | 0.011 |
| Ankylosing spondylitis | 14 (00.5) | 16 (00.6) | 0.010 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Behçet’s disease | 10 (00.4) | 10 (00.4) | <0.001 | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – |
| Systemic sclerosis/scleroderma | 11 (00.4) | 18 (00.7) | 0.036 | 33 (03.4) | 23 (02.4) | 0.062 |
| Atopic dermatitis | 10 (00.4) | 10 (00.4) | <0.001 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Medical utilisation | ||||||
| Hospital inpatient services | 75 (02.8) | 63 (02.4) | 0.028 | 47 (04.9) | 46 (04.8) | 0.005 |
| Preventive medicine services | 143 (05.3) | 127 (04.7) | 0.027 | 33 (03.4) | 30 (03.1) | 0.017 |
| Emergency department services | 221 (08.3) | 200 (07.5) | 0.029 | 105 (10.9) | 91 (09.4) | 0.048 |
| Office or other outpatient services | 1533 (57.3) | 1504 (56.2) | 0.022 | 606 (62.7) | 605 (62.6) | 0.002 |
| COVID-19 vaccination | ||||||
| BNT† | 45 (01.7) | 51 (01.9) | 0.017 | 19 (02.0) | 22 (02.3) | 0.022 |
| Moderna‡ | 10 (00.4) | 10 (00.4) | <0.001 | 10 (01.0) | 10 (01.0) | <0.001 |
| Janssen§ | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – |
| Medication | ||||||
| NSAIDs | 813 (30.4) | 788 (29.4) | 0.020 | 244 (25.2) | 217 (22.4) | 0.066 |
| Corticosteroids for systemic use | 1291 (48.2) | 1308 (48.9) | 0.013 | 514 (53.2) | 515 (53.3) | 0.002 |
| Other DMARDs | ||||||
| Abatacept | 131 (04.9) | 125 (04.7) | 0.011 | 66 (06.8) | 62 (06.4) | 0.017 |
| Rituximab | 30 (01.1) | 21 (00.8) | 0.035 | 11 (01.1) | 12 (01.2) | 0.010 |
| Sulfasalazine | 175 (06.5) | 172 (06.4) | 0.005 | 37 (03.8) | 32 (03.3) | 0.028 |
| Minocycline | 11 (00.4) | 12 (00.4) | 0.006 | 10 (01.0) | 0 (00.0) | 0.145 |
| Cyclophosphamide | 0 (00.0) | 10 (00.4) | 0.087 | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – |
| Methotrexate | 698 (26.1) | 675 (25.2) | 0.020 | 205 (21.2) | 203 (21.0) | 0.005 |
| Leflunomide | 252 (09.4) | 253 (09.5) | 0.001 | 72 (07.4) | 69 (07.1) | 0.012 |
| Azathioprine | 31 (01.2) | 29 (01.1) | 0.007 | 18 (01.9) | 20 (02.1) | 0.015 |
| Penicillamine | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – | 0 (00.0) | 0 (00.0) | – |
| Hydroxychloroquine | 473 (17.7) | 433 (16.2) | 0.040 | 137 (14.2) | 135 (14.0) | 0.006 |
| Cyclosporine | 31 (01.2) | 26 (01.0) | 0.018 | 14 (01.4) | 15 (01.6) | 0.009 |
Note: If the patient number is less than or equal to 10, the results show the count as 10.
Bold value represents a standardised difference greater than 0.1.
*Propensity score matching was performed on age at index, sex, race, socioeconomic status, lifestyles, comorbidities, medical utilisation, COVID-19 vaccination and medication usage.
†Value presented here only includes SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccine, mRNA-LNP, spike protein, preservative free, 30 µg/0.3 mL dosage, diluent reconstituted, for intramuscular use (UMLS:CPT:91300).
‡Value presented here only includes SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccine, mRNA-LNP, spike protein, preservative free, 100 µg/0.5 mL dosage, for intramuscular use (UMLS:CPT:91301).
§Value presented here only includes SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) vaccine, DNA, spike protein, adenovirus type 26 (Ad26) vector, preservative free, 5×1010 viral particles/0.5 mL dosage, for intramuscular use (UMLS:CPT:91303).
BNT, Pfizer–BioNTech; DMARDs, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; IL-6i, interleukin 6 inhibitor; JAKi, Janus-associated kinase inhibitors; LNP, Lipid Nanoparticle; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SMD, standardised mean difference; TNFi, tumour necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors.