Demographic and clinical data from the patient group at study entry
| Patients with RA (n=109) | |
|---|---|
| *Data are shown as median (25th–75th centiles); | |
| †RA according to the 1987 ACR classification criteria; | |
| ‡probable RA according to the 1958 ACR classification criteria. | |
| Age (years)* | 58 (44–67) |
| Female (%) | 73 |
| Duration of symptoms (days)* | 162 (89–311) |
| Time from symptom onset to initiation of DMARD (days) | 331 (199–545) |
| Disease duration before treatment (days) | 123 (50–273) |
| RA (%)* † | 68 |
| Probable RA (%)* ‡ | 32 |
| Rheumatoid factor positivity (%) | 58 |
| Shared epitope positivity (%) | 69 |
| Baseline joint damage* | 0 (0–2) |