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Baseline characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) studied |
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| Given TNF-α-blocking therapy |
Controlsa |
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| Characteristic |
All patients N = 289 |
Patients with dermatological events N = 72 |
N = 289 |
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| Male sex, no. (%) |
89 (31) |
20 (28) |
110 (38) |
| Age (yr) at diagnosis, mean (SD) |
44.5 (14.7) |
43.4 (12.7) |
54.6 (14.1)** |
| RF-positive, no. (%) |
249 (87) |
68 (94) |
205 (71)* |
| Disease duration (yr) at baseline, median (range) |
9.2 (0.1–44.9) |
10.3 (0.3–44.9)† |
6.2 (0.0–12.6)** |
| DAS28 at baseline, mean (SD) |
5.9 (1.1) |
6.1 (1.1) |
3.6 (1.4)** |
| ANA-positive at baseline, no. (%)b |
112 (50) |
33 (49) |
118 (41) |
| Prior DMARDs, median (range) |
4 (1–10) |
5 (2–8) |
1 (0–6)** |
| Prednisolone at baseline, no. (%) |
112 (39) |
34 (47) |
21 (7)** |
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aNot given TNF-α-blocking therapy. bANA at start was present in respectively 261 and 67 patients on TNF-α-blocking therapy. *P < 0.001, **P < 0.0001, compared with RA patients on TNF-α-blocking therapy; †P < 0.001 compared with RA patients on TNF-α-blocking therapy who experienced no dermatological events. ANA, antinuclear antibody; DAS28, disease activity score based on 28 joints; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; RF, rheumatoid factor; SD, standard deviation; TNF, tumor necrosis factor. | |||
Flendrie et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2005 7:R666 doi:10.1186/ar1724 |
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