Demographic and health-related characteristics of nonparticipants, participating patients, and controls, as well as clinical characteristics of patients 16.5 to 21.4 years after disease onset.
| Nonparticipants, n = 17 | Participating Patients, n = 79 | P* | Controls, n = 79 | P** | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic variables | |||||
| Gender, female, n (%)a | 7 (41) | 57 (72) | 0.02 | 57 (72) | > 0.99 |
| Age, yrs, mean (SD) | 24.9 (4.1) | 25.1 (4.2) | 0.89 | 25.1 (4.3) | 0.98 |
| College or university level educationa, n (%) | 9 (53) | 33 (42) | 0.43 | 44 (56) | 0.08 |
| Full-time work or schoola, n (%) | 12 (71) | 61 (77) | 0.55 | 71 (90) | 0.05 |
| Receiving disability or social benefita, n (%) | 3 (18) | 9 (11) | 0.44 | 2 (6) | 0.06 |
| Clinical characteristics | |||||
| Age at disease onset, yrs, mean (SD) | 5.9 (4.2) | 6.2 (4.0) | 0.77 | NA | |
| Disease duration, yrs, mean (SD) | 19.0 (1.5) | 18.9 (1.5) | 0.69 | NA | |
| Polyarticular course JIA after 3 yrsa, n (%) | 3 (18) | 38 (48) | 0.03 | NA | |
| Active joints (self-reported)a, n (%) | 5 (29) | 52 (66) | 0.006 | NA | |
| Physical disability (HAQ-DI > 0)a, n (%) | 5 (29) | 37 (48) | 0.19 | NA | |
| Current use of DMARDsa, n (%) | 6 (35) | 46 (58) | 0.11 | NA | |
| Morning stiffness (> 10 min)a, n (%) | 3 (18) | 41 (52) | 0.01 | NA | |
| Health-related variables | |||||
| Physical HRQOL (SF-12 PCS), mean (SD) | 52.6 (8.9) | 48.9 (9.9) | 0.16 | 55.9 (6.4) | < 0.001 |
| Mental HRQOL (SF-12 MCS), mean (SD) | 53.6 (8.0) | 47.3 (10.0) | 0.02 | 48.6 (9.4) | 0.43 |
| Pain severity (BPI; 0-10) | 0.5 (0-6.5) | 1.75 (0-9) | 0.01 | 0.75 (0-6.8) | < 0.001 |
| Pain interference (BPI; 0-10) | 0 (0-5.43) | 0.86 (0-8.43) | 0.01 | 0.75 (0-9) | < 0.001 |
| Psychological distress (SCL-5; Likert 1-4) | 1.0 (1-2) | 1.4 (1-4) | 0.01 | 1.4 (1-4) | 0.33 |
| Fatigue (VAS 0-10) | 0.7 (0-9.6) | 3.0 (0-10) | 0.04 | 1.7 (0-8) | 0.06 |
| PGI, mean (SD) | NA | 47.6 (23.3) | NA | ||
Values are the median (range) unless indicated otherwise.
↵*P values comparing nonparticipants vs participating patients.
↵**P values comparing participating patients vs controls.
↵aDichotomized variables. BPI: Brief Pain Inventory; DMARD: disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; HAQ-DI: Health Assessment Questionnaire–Disability Index; HRQOL: health-related quality of life; JIA: juvenile idiopathic arthritis; MCS: mental component summary (norm-based score [SD] = 50 [10]); NA: not applicable; PCS: physical component summary (norm-based score [SD] = 50 [10]); PGI: Patient Generated Index; SCL-5: 5-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist; SF-12: 12-item Short Form Health Survey; VAS: visual analog scale.