Baseline data of the initially aggressively treated patients with early rheumatoid arthritis categorized according to the number of criteria of treatment failure fulfilled at 5 years.
| Characteristics | No. Criteria | p* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0, n = 45 | 1, n = 30 | 2–4, n = 18 | ||
| Demographic data at baseline | ||||
| Female, n (%) | 29 (64) | 23 (77) | 11 (61) | 0.93 |
| Age, mean (SD) | 47 (11) | 44 (9) | 47 (11) | 0.69 |
| BMI, mean (SD) | 27.0 (4.0) | 24.1 (3.1) | 26.5 (5.5) | 0.22 |
| Duration of symptoms, mos, median (IQR) | 3 (2–6) | 4 (3–6) | 4 (3–5) | 0.37 |
| Currently smoking, n (%) | 12 (27) | 9 (30) | 7 (39) | 0.36 |
| Rheumatoid factor present, n (%) | 31 (69) | 25 (83) | 13 (72) | 0.53 |
| Anticitrullinated protein antibodies present, n (%) | 32 (71) | 26 (87) | 11 (61) | 0.77 |
| Measures of disease activity at baseline, mean ± SD | ||||
| No. swollen joints | 15 (6) | 14 (6) | 17 (9) | 0.56 |
| No. tender joints | 20 (11) | 18 (9) | 25 (11) | 0.20 |
| C-reactive protein, mg/l | 25 (26) | 34 (47) | 38 (46) | 0.17 |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, mm/h | 32 (20) | 34 (22) | 33 (26) | 0.90 |
| Patient’s global assessment, VAS, mm | 47 (23) | 46 (27) | 60 (26) | 0.10 |
| Patient’s assessment of pain, VAS, mm | 52 (26) | 52 (26) | 60 (28) | 0.36 |
| Physician’s global assessment, VAS, mm | 47 (20) | 53 (19) | 60 (20) | 0.013 |
| Physical function, HAQ | 0.92 (0.66) | 0.80 (0.55) | 1.42 (0.62) | 0.025 |
| Disease Activity Score at 28 joints | 5.51 (1.14) | 5.51 (1.17) | 5.76 (1.44) | 0.54 |
| Radiography at baseline, Sharp/van der Heijde score | ||||
| Erosion score, mean ± SD | 2.3 (7.1) | 2.0 (3.3) | 0.6 (0.9) | 0.21 |
| Narrowing score, mean ± SD | 0.3 (1.2) | 0.4 (1.3) | 0.3 (0.8) | 0.68 |
| Total score, mean ± SD | 2.5 (8.2) | 2.4 (3.7) | 0.9 (1.7) | 0.33 |
| Erosions in hand or foot radiographs, n (%) | 15 (33) | 14 (47) | 6 (33) | 0.75 |
| The initial randomization group, n (%) | 0.15 | |||
| FIN-RACo + placebo | 18 (40) | 18 (60) | 10 (56) | — |
| FIN-RACo + infliximab | 27 (60) | 12 (40) | 8 (44) | — |
↵* p for linearity. BMI: body mass index; IQR: interquartile range; VAS: visual analog scale; HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire; FIN-RACo: The Finnish Rheumatoid Arthritis Combination Therapy Trial.