Table 1 Study participant demographics, biologic use, SILS and Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire results

N

838

694

144^a

Age in years, median (IQR)

52 (41,62)

54 (43, 63)

41 (33, 53)

Female: n (%)

724 (87)

604 (87)

120 (83)

English main language: n (%)

824 (99)

682 (99)

142 (99)

State/territory: n (%)

  New South Wales

222 (27)

184 (27)

38 (27)

  Victoria

179 (21)

137 (20)

42 (29)

  Western Australia

147 (18)

127 (18)

20 (14)

  Queensland

144 (17)

129 (19)

15 (10)

  South Australia

71 (8)

58 (8)

13 (9)

  ACT

49 (6)

41 (6)

8 (6)

  Tasmania

18 (3)

18 (3)

5 (4)

  Northern territory

2 (0.2)

0

2 (1)

Region: n (%)

  Metropolitan capital city

462(55)

377 (54)

85 (59)

  Regional centre

282 (34)

233 (34)

49 (34)

  Rural/remote area

93 (11)

83 (12)

10 (7)

Disease duration in years, median (IQR)

10 (5, 20)

9 (4, 20)

12 (6, 20)

Current b/ts DMARD use: n (%)

658 (79%)

541 (78)

117 (82)

Need help reading health-related materials (SILS)^b, n (%)

  Always

4 (0.5)

4 (0.6)

0

  Often

5 (0.6)

4 (0.6)

1 (0.8)

  Sometimes

47 (6)

36 (6)

11 (8)

  Rarely

128 (17)

107 (17)

21 (16)

  Never

582 (76)

482 (76)

100 (75)

Beliefs about medicines (BMQ): 1–5 scale, higher score meaning more agreement, median (IQR)

  General medicine: overuse

2.7 (2, 3.3)

2.7 (2.0, 3.3)

2.7 (2.0, 3.3)

  General medicine: harms

2 (1.6, 2.4)

2.0 (1.6, 2.4)

2.0 (1.6, 2.4)

  bDMARD specific: necessity

4.2 (3.6, 4.8)

4.2 (3.6, 4.8)

4.0 (3.6, 4.8)

  bDMARD specific: concerns

2.8 (2.2, 3.4)

2.8 (2.2, 3.2)

3.0 (2.2, 3.6)