Remainder of the cohort, n=11 865 |
Controls, n=326 |
Cases, n=163 | |
Matching criteria | |||
Gender, female | 9071 (76.5) | 244 (74.8) | 122 (74.8) |
Age (years), mean (SD) | 55.8 (12.5)* | 62.6 (10.2) | 63.4 (10.7) |
Hypertension | 4354 (36.7)* | 184 (56.4) | 92 (56.4) |
Coronary heart disease | 672 (5.7) | 30 (9.2) | 15 (9.2) |
Heart failure | 262 (2.2) | 6 (1.8) | 3 (1.8) |
Diabetes mellitus | 1157 (9.8)* | 54 (16.6) | 27 (16.6) |
Smoking, never | 5153 (43.4) | 132 (40.5) | 66 (40.5) |
Smoking, ever and unknown | 6712 (56.6) | 194 (59.5) | 97 (59.5) |
Enrolment period (prior 2007) | 4773 (40.2)* | 174 (53.4) | 87 (53.4) |
Unmatched criteria | |||
Time to event/index date (months), mean (SD) | . | 46.6 (31.9) | 46.6 (32.0) |
Observation time (months), mean (SD) | 48.9 (33.0) * | 73.7 (32.8) | 68.3 (32.3) |
Disease duration (years), mean (SD) | 9.7 (9.0) | 11.3 (9.7) | 10.9 (9.2) |
Rheumatoid factor positive | 8379 (71.2)* | 250 (77.2) | 128 (79.0) |
CRP (mg/L), mean (SD) | 18.4 (26.0)* | 21.4 (39.6) | 24.2 (31.3) |
ESR (mm/hour), mean (SD) | 30.7 (22.7)* | 33.2 (23.3) | 35.6 (25.6) |
DAS28, mean (SD) | 5.1 (1.3)* | 5.4 (1.4) | 5.4 (1.3) |
% of full physical function, mean (SD) | 64.0 (23.1)* | 60.3 (22.8) | 54.0 (23.8) |
NRS patient global health 0–10, mean (SD) | 6.0 (2.1)* | 6.1 (2.1) | 6.5 (2.2) |
BMI ≥30 kg/m2 | 2818 (23.8) | 76 (23.3) | 41 (25.2) |
Hyperlipoproteinaemia | 921 (7.8)* | 39 (12) | 27 (16.6) |
Chronic renal disease | 437 (3.7)* | 24 (7.4) | 12 (7.4) |
Osteoporosis | 2089 (17.6)* | 77 (23.6) | 49 (30.1) |
≥2 comorbidities | 4634 (39.1)* | 181 (55.5)† | 102 (62.6) |
No CV treatment | 1038/4849 (21.4)* | 41/195 (21.0)† | 35/104 (33.7) |
No diabetes treatment | 226/1157 (19.5) | 16/54 (29.6) | 4/27 (14.8) |
No osteoporosis treatment | 325/2089 (15.6) | 13/77 (16.9) | 6/49 (12.2) |
No of previous csDMARDs, mean (SD) | 2.2 (1.4) | 2.6 (1.4) | 2.6 (1.5) |
No of previous bDMARDs, mean (SD) | 0.3 (0.7) | 0.3 (0.6) | 0.4 (0.9) |
Enrolment therapy: csDMARD | 3874 (32.9) | 110 (34.2) | 47 (29.6) |
Enrolment therapy: TNFi | 6009 (51.0) | 157 (48.8) | 81 (50.9) |
Enrolment therapy: other bDMARD | 1907 (16.2) | 55 (17.1) | 31 (19.5) |
Glucocorticoids, <5 mg/day | 4748 (40.0) | 136 (41.7) | 49 (30.1) |
Glucocorticoids, 5–10 mg/day | 4718 (39.8) | 133 (40.8) | 82 (50.3) |
Glucocorticoids, ≥10 mg/day | 2351 (19.8) | 54 (16.6) | 32 (19.6) |
Any NSAID | 6150 (51.8) | 189 (58) | 89 (54.6) |
Values are numbers of patients (%) unless otherwise specified.
*p<0.05 in unpaired tests versus cases (t-test or χ 2 test).
†p<0.05 in paired tests versus cases (linear mixed effects model with a random component, differences in comorbidity treatment were analysed with χ 2 test).
bDMARD, biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug; BMI, body mass index; CRP, C reactive protein; csDMARD, conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; CV, cardiovascular; DAS28, disease activity based on 28 joint count; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; NRS, numeric rating scale; NSAID, non-steroidal antirheumatic drug; TNFi, inhibitors of tumour necrosis factor alpha.