Table 1

	Male	Female	P value

	N=786	N=1432

Age mean (SD)	61.6 (13.2)	58.1 (15.1)	0*
Smoker %	28	21	0**
Social deprivation decile mean (SD)	5.4 (2.9)	5.5 (2.9)	0.6**
Seropositive %	66	70	0.05**
symptom duration days	230	226	0.8*
Baseline DAS-28 mean (SD)	5.1 (1.4)	5.3 (1.3)	0.03*
FU DAS-28 mean (SD)	3.3 (1.5)	3.6 (1.5)	0.0001*
Change in DAS-28 mean (SD)	1.8 (1.7)	1.7 (1.6)	0.08*
EULAR good response %	43.4	36.7	0.002**
Timely referral %	16	15	0.3**
Timely rheumatology assessment %	39	39	0.7**
Steroids commenced at baseline %	87	86	0.7**
Early DMARD treatment %	28	27	0.9**
Any DMARD prescribed within 6 weeks %	70	70	0.9**
DMARD choice; Methotrexate monotherapy %	69	68	0.6**
DMARD choice; combination therapy %	44	44	0.8**

*t-test **chi-squared. Social deprivation decile from deprivation rank calculated via super output area.