Patient characteristics at baseline.
| TNFi Monotherapy, n = 320 | TNFi + SSZ, n = 103 | TNFi + LEF, n = 80 | TNFi + Other csDMARD, n = 99 | TNFi + MTX, n = 919 | TNFi + MTX + csDMARD, n = 412 | p* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female (%) | 74.4 | 76.7 | 70.0 | 69.7 | 68.6 | 63.1 | 0.015 |
| Mean age, yrs (SD) | 56.7 (13.0) | 56.4 (15.2) | 55.2 (12.1) | 57.1 (13.2) | 55.0 (13.0) | 54.7 (12.8) | 0.167 |
| Median disease duration, yrs (IQR) | 8.01 (2.35–15.4) | 5.85 (2.10–11.97) | 6.67 (2.08–11.97) | 4.83 (1.78–12.22) | 4.90 (1.82–11.63) | 4.04 (1.11–9.17) | < 0.001 |
| Mean DAS28 (SD) | 5.23 (1.32) | 5.02 (1.32) | 4.91 (1.29) | 4.77 (1.40) | 4.89 (1.34) | 4.79 (1.26) | 0.001 |
| Mean HAQ-DI (SD) | 1.48 (0.64) | 1.41 (0.66) | 1.35 (0.67) | 1.49 (1.09) | 1.30 (0.69) | 1.27 (0.64) | < 0.001 |
| RF positivity (%) | 67.0 | 71.8 | 77.9 | 70.2 | 70.7 | 65.2 | 0.163 |
| Erosive disease (%) | 68.4 | 59.4 | 57.4 | 63.8 | 66.1 | 53.1 | 0.003 |
| No. previous DMARD† (%) | < 0.001 | ||||||
| 1 | 7.8 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 6.1 | 11.4 | 1.5 | |
| 2 | 25.6 | 38.8 | 16.2 | 21.2 | 48.4 | 59.2 | |
| 3 | 23.4 | 35.0 | 33.8 | 24.2 | 26.0 | 24.8 | |
| 4 | 21.6 | 15.5 | 26.2 | 20.2 | 9.1 | 9.2 | |
| > 4 | 21.6 | 6.8 | 22.5 | 28.3 | 5.0 | 5.3 | |
| TNFi (%) | < 0.001 | ||||||
| ADA | 33.4 | 42.7 | 37.5 | 35.4 | 44.6 | 35.6 | |
| ETN | 57.4 | 50.5 | 46.2 | 48.5 | 41.7 | 57.3 | |
| IFX | 9.1 | 6.8 | 16.2 | 16.2 | 13.7 | 7.2 |
↵* p value was the result of ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis, and chi-squared analyses.
↵† No. csDMARD tried before the start of TNFi treatment. DAS28: Disease Activity Score of 28 joints; HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index; IQR: interquartile range; csDMARD: conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; MTX: methotrexate; TNFi: tumor necrosis factor inhibitor; SSZ: sulfasalazine; LEF: leflunomide; RF: rheumatoid factor.