Baseline characteristics of 23,994 incident patients with RA.
| Characteristic | Total, n = 23,994 | Methotrexate Use Only During Followup, n = 4448 | Other DMARD Use Only During Followup, n = 5427 | Both Methotrexate and Other DMARD Use During Followup, n = 7448 | No Methotrexate or Other DMARD Use During Followup, n = 6671 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographics | |||||
| Age at cohort entry, yrs, mean ± SD | 74.6 ± 6.2 | 74.88 ± 6.09 | 74.71 ± 6.16 | 73.32 ± 5.51 | 75.79 ± 6.57 |
| Female | 15,978 (66.6) | 2860 (64.3) | 3597 (66.3) | 5205 (69.9) | 4316 (64.7) |
| Urban residence | 20,596 (85.8) | 3861 (86.8) | 4588 (84.5) | 6298 (84.6) | 5849 (87.7) |
| Baseline healthcare use | |||||
| Physician visits1, mean ± SD | 15.2 ± 9.1 | 15.3 ± 8.86 | 15.2 ± 8.7 | 15.0 ± 9.1 | 15.5 ± 9.4 |
| No. rheumatology visits1, mean ± SD | 1.8 ± 2.1 | 2.0 ± 2.0 | 1.9 ± 1.7 | 1.9 ± 2.0 | 1.4 ± 2.4 |
| High healthcare user2 | 5222 (21.8) | 970 (21.8) | 1157 (21.3) | 1540 (20.7) | 1555 (23.3) |
| Prior joint replacement3 | 3420 (14.3) | 497 (11.2) | 662 (12.2) | 896 (12.0) | 1365 (20.5) |
| Baseline comorbidities4 | |||||
| Hypertension3 | 16,883 (70.4) | 3105 (69.8) | 3895 (71.8) | 4944 (66.4) | 4939 (74.0) |
| COPD/asthma3 | 7516 (31.3) | 1350 (30.4) | 1826 (33.6) | 2245 (30.1) | 2095 (31.4) |
| Diabetes3 | 5626 (23.4) | 1139 (25.6) | 1217 (22.4) | 1625 (21.8) | 1645 (24.7) |
| Cancer | 4327 (18.0) | 752 (16.9) | 1056 (19.5) | 1199 (16.1) | 1320 (19.8) |
| Coronary artery disease | 3791 (15.8) | 660 (14.8) | 903 (16.6) | 961 (12.9) | 1267 (19.0) |
| Extraarticular RA | 3617 (15.1) | 626 (14.1) | 913 (16.8) | 1019 (13.7) | 1059 (15.9) |
| Chronic renal failure | 818 (3.4) | 106 (2.4) | 227 (4.2) | 136 (1.8) | 349 (5.2) |
| Prior myocardial infarction | 743 (3.1) | 126 (2.8) | 168 (3.1) | 161 (2.2) | 288 (4.3) |
| Acute renal failure | 520 (2.2) | 62 (1.4) | 110 (2.0) | 97 (1.3) | 251 (3.8) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 215 (0.9) | 33 (0.7) | 50 (0.9) | 40 (0.5) | 92 (1.4) |
| Total ADG, mean ± SD | 10.6 ± 3.7 | 10.4 ± 3.6 | 10.8 ± 3.6 | 10.2 ± 3.6 | 11.1 ± 3.7 |
Data are n (%) unless otherwise specified.
↵1 Ascertained over the 1 year prior to baseline.
↵2 Defined by having at least 20 outpatient physician visits in at least 1 year of the 3 years before baseline.
↵3 Ascertained over all available years prior to baseline.
↵4 Ascertained over the 3 years prior to baseline unless otherwise stated. RA: rheumatoid arthritis; DMARD: disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ADG: aggregated diagnosis groups; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.