Table 1 Numbers and proportions (%) of patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), seronegative RA and undifferentiated arthritis using various anti-rheumatic drugs and drug combination strategies by the end of the first month after arthritis diagnosis
Seropositive rheumatoid arthritis N = 4998 | Seronegative rheumatoid arthritis N = 2340 | Undifferentiated arthritis N = 2433 | p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Females N (%) | 3349 (67.0) | 1584 (67.7) | 1650 (67.8) | |
Mean age at diagnosis, years (SD) | 58 (15) | 56 (17) | 49 (17) | |
Combination strategies of DMARDs, N(%) | ||||
Two DMARDs | 1684 (33.7) | 727 (31.1) | 395 (16.2) | < 0.001 |
Three DMARDs | 1118 (22.4) | 255 (10.9) | 77 (3.1) | < 0.001 |
MTX-based combination | 2489 (49.8) | 841 (35.9) | 390 (16.0) | < 0.001 |
FIN-RACo combination* | 1114 (22.3) | 253 (10.8) | 75 (3.1) | < 0.001 |
MTX + SSZ + HCQ + PRD | 922 (18.4) | 205 (8.8) | 52 (2.1) | |
MTX + SSZ + HCQ | 192 (3.8) | 48 (2.1) | 23 (0.9) | |
Medications | ||||
Methotrexate (MTX) | 3602 (72.1) | 1483 (63.4) | 1043 (42.9) | < 0.001 |
MTX per os | 3428 (68.6) | 1399 (59.8) | 949 (39.0) | |
MTX s.c. | 174 (3.5) | 84 (3.6) | 94 (3.9) | |
Sulfasalazine (SSZ) | 2059 (41.2) | 880 (37.6) | 1121 (46.1) | < 0.001 |
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) | 2272 (55.5) | 940 (40.2) | 472 (19.4) | < 0.001 |
Leflunomide | 51 (1.0) | 30 (1.3) | 23 (1) | 0.48 |
Azathioprine | 29 (0.6) | 11 (0.5) | 14 (0.6) | 0.83 |
Aurathiomalate | 9 (0.2) | 2 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 0.44 |
Auranofin | 3 (0.1) | 1 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 0.95 |
Cyclosporine | 1 (0.0) | 3 (0.1) | 6 (0.3) | 0.015 |
Prednisolone (PRD) | 3025 (60.5) | 1352 (57.8) | 890 (36.6) | < 0.001 |
Self-injected biologics (all) | 41 (0.8) | 28 (1.2) | 17 (0.7) | 0.15 |
Etanercept | 3 (0.06) | 11 (0.47) | 2 (0.08) | |
Adalimumab | 4 (0.08) | 6 (0.27) | 1 (0.04) | |
Certolizumab | 1 (0.02) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
Golimumab | 3 (0.03) | 1 (0.04) | 0 (0) | |
Abatacept | 1 (0.02) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
No antirheumatic medication | 401 (8.0) | 227 (9.7) | 300 (13.3) | < 0.001 |
Only prednisolone | 85 (1.7) | 63 (2.7) | 46 (1.9) | 0.61 |