Estimated rates of radiological progression before diagnosis (and start of DMARD treatment) and change in Larsen scores during year 1 (Larsen score units/year (SD))
| Treatment | MTX (n = 56) | SSZ (n = 55) | AUR (n = 19) | Control (n = 19) | p* Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Comparison of four groups by analysis of variance; †the prediagnosis radiological progression rate was estimated by dividing the radiological damage at baseline by the symptom duration as recorded at the baseline visit for each patient; ‡comparison of prediagnosis progression with progression from baseline to year 1, for each group (paired Student’s t test). | |||||
| Prediagnosis progression rate† (change/year) | 27.4 (16.5) | 23.8 (16.9) | 16.6 (11.5) | 17.6 (13.6) | 0.1 |
| Progression from baseline to year 1 | 7.9 (4.6) | 6.5 (4.9) | 9.4 (6.8) | 10.4 (4.9) | 0.025 |
| Decrease in rate of progression | −19.5 (9.3) | −17.3 (10.2) | −7.2 (4.4) | −7.2 (4.8) | 0.03 |
| p<0.001‡ | p<0.001‡ | p = NS‡ | p = NS‡ | – | |