Table 4

Characteristics of 18,485 patients with rheumatoid arthritis at study entry unless otherwise specified

Variable

Patient Data

Community Norms

Mean (SD)

IQR

Range

Mean (SD)

Range

HAQ

1.06 (0.73)

1.00 (0.50 to 1.62)

0.00 to 3.00

PCS

35.8 (11.0)

34.7 (27.3 to 44.1)

6.5 to 69.4

46.2 (3.4)

40.2 to 55.3

MCS

49.0 (11.3)

51.4 (40.7 to 58.0)

7.6 to 75.2

50.8 (1.46)

45.0 to 52.7

EQ-5D

0.73 (0.19)

0.78 (0.69 to 0.83)

-0.11 to 1.00

0.83 (0.03)

0.79 to 0.93

Age (years)

59.9 (13.0)

Sex (% male)

23.3

Non-Hispanic White (%)

89.8

High school graduate (%)

89.4

College graduate (%)

26.3

Income (median $US)

35,000

RA duration (median IQR) years

9.7 (4.4 to 18.1)

Study duration (years)

3.7 (3.2)

0.5 to 11.0

Study duration biologic comparison) (years)

6.1 (3.0)

1.0 to 11.0

Comorbid conditions (none) (%)

27.2

Comorbid conditions (1) (%)

27.1

Comorbid conditions (≥ 2) (%)

45.8

Satisfied or very satisfied with health (%)

51.5

MTX (%)

47.8

MTX (anytime in study) (%)

60.8

Prednisone (%)

40.5

Biologic (anytime in study) (%)

44.5

DMARD use (lifetime) (%)

92.3

Triple therapy (lifetime) (%)

3.7

HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; PCS, SF-36 Physical Component Summary; MCS, SF-36 Mental Component Summary; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; MTX, methotrexate; DMARD, Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug; triple therapy, methotrexate (MTX) + hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) + sulfasalazine (SSZ).

Community norms are age and sex-adjusted to the NDB study population.

Wolfe and Michaud Arthritis Research & Therapy 2010 12:R35   doi:10.1186/ar2944