Patient characteristics and clinical assessments of total study population and subgroups according to tender point classes. All values are median (10th to 90th percentile), unless otherwise indicated.
| Characteristic | Total, n = 196 (100%) | TPC 0, n = 84 (43%) | TPC 1–5, n = 60 (30%) | TPC 6–10, n = 23 (12%) | TPC ≥ 11, n = 29 (15%) | p* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, yrs | 59 (40–78) | 58 (37–76) | 58 (42–76) | 60 (43–83) | 61 (43–79) | NS |
| Female, % | 70 | 78 | 73 | 91 | 83 | < 0.005 |
| Disease duration, yrs | 4 (1–8) | 4 (1–8) | 2 (1–8) | 5 (1–9) | 5 (1–8) | NS |
| RF-positive, % | 66 | 66 | 70 | 61 | 66 | NS |
| EMS | 5 (0–90) | 0 (0–30) | 15 (0–60) | 20 (0–120) | 18 (0–285) | < 0.00001 |
| VAS pain | 14 (0–66) | 5 (0–50) | 12 (0–68) | 36 (8–84) | 33 (3–79) | < 0.00000 |
| HAQ | 1 (0–2) | 0.5 (0–1.6) | 1.0 (0.1–2.2) | 1.6 (1.1–2.3) | 1.5 (0.2–2.4) | < 0.00000 |
| TPC | 1 (0–13) | 0 (0–0) | 2 (1–5) | 8 (6–10) | 16 (12–18) | NA |
| DAS28 | 3.1 (1.3–5.1) | 2.6 (1.2–4.7) | 3.3 (1.5–5.1)** | 3.4 (1.9–5.1)** | 4.1 (2.3–5.8)** | < 0.001 |
| TJC | 1 (0–10) | 0 (0–5) | 2 (0–7) | 2 (0–17) | 5 (0–19) | < 0.0001 |
| SJC | 1 (0–7) | 1 (0–8) | 1 (0–7) | 1 (0–11) | 1 (0–8) | NS |
| ESR, mm/h | 15 (4–41) | 12 (3–42) | 19 (4–49) | 19 (2–36) | 15 (5–42) | NS |
| VAS-GH, mm | 26 (1–67) | 18 (0–60) | 29 (3–70) | 34 (9–79) | 42 (10–70) | < 0.01 |
↵* Kruskal-Wallis test.
↵** All statistically significantly higher compared to DAS28 in group with TPC = 0 (Mann-Whitney U tests); corresponding means (SD) of DAS28 respectively 2.9 (1.4), 3.3 (1.3), 3.6 (1.6), and 4.0 (1.2); p < 0.0004 in ANOVA. RF: rheumatoid factor; EMS: early morning stiffness (0–180 min); VAS pain: visual analog scale for pain (0–100; 0 = no pain); HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire (0–3; 0 = no disability); TPC: tender point count (0–18); DAS28: Disease Activity Score; TJC: tender joint count (0–28); SJC: swollen joint count (0–28); ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (0–140 mm/h); VAS-GH: VAS for general health (0–100 mm, 100 = worst score); NS: not statistically significant; NA: not applicable.