Table 1

Baseline characteristics^1-150

Variable, unit (range)	Strategy I (n=107)	Strategy II (n=101)	Strategy III (n=105)	Dropouts (n=31)	Patients who were not randomly assigned (n=52)
Female sex, %	69	65	64	52	81
Rheumatoid factor positive, %	67	56	65	55	69
Age, years
Mean	56	55	57	67^1-151	55
10–90 Centiles	37–74	35–73	37–73	38–79	30–73

Primary end points
Disability score (0–3)
Mean	1.4	1.3	1.3	1.5	1.0^1-151
10–90 Centiles	0.5–2.5	0.1–2.4	0.3–2.4	0.4–2.6	0.1–2.1
Pain score, mm (0–100)
Mean	46	43	44	43	31^1-151
10–90 Centiles	9–86	3–82	9–92	1–96	1–72
Joint score (0–534)
Mean	141	147	142	152	110
10–90 Centiles	35–306	38–280	44–279	47–357	20–226
ESR, mm/1st h (0–140)
Mean	42	41	43	41	39
10–90 Centiles	11–86	9–88	14–88	14–87	8–92
Radiological damage (0–448)
Median	2	2	2	2	2
10–90 Centiles	0–12	0–11	0–13	0–6	0–10

Secondary end points
Wellbeing, mm (0–100)
Mean	49	50	49	48	39
10–90 Centiles	6–90	6–82	12–92	12–92	2–80
Grip strength, kPa (0–120)
Mean	30	33	31	24	35
10–90 Centiles	4–58	6–67	5–58	1–43	9–59
Haemoglobin, mmol/l
Mean	7.8	8.0	8.0	8.1	7.8
10–90 Centiles	6.5–9.0	6.9–9.1	6.8–9.0	7.1–9.2	6.7–9.0
Morning stiffness, min (0–720)
Median	60	60	60	60	30
10–90 Centiles	10–360	5–180	3–360	1–288	0–162
C reactive protein, mg/l
Median	26	20	16	18	18
10–90 Centiles	0–94	0–85	0–72	0–79	0–70
Platelet count × 10⁹/l
Median	321	332	317	330	317
10–90 Centiles	215–503	220–482	219–483	218–436	243–522

↵1-150 Higher values indicate more active disease, with the exception of values for grip strength and haemoglobin.
Mean was presented for normal distribution of the variables, and median for a skew distribution. Presented ranges are theoretical ranges.
↵1-151 Dropouts had a significantly higher age than all other groups (analysis of variance (ANOVA), p = 0.002).
Patients who were not randomly assigned differed significantly from all other groups: less disability (ANOVA, p = 0.05) and lower pain score (ANOVA, p = 0.04).