Patient characteristics
| ETA + MTX | ETA + LEF | ADA + MTX | ADA + LEF | INF + MTX | INF + LEF | Biologics/MTX vs biologics/LEF p values | |
| N | 448 | 144 | 566 | 174 | 361 | 76 | |
| Age in years, mean (SD) | 52.6 (12.4) | 54.3 (11.0) | 53.5 (11.3) | 54.0 (12.9) | 52.4 (12.6) | 54.3 (14.4) | 0.049 |
| Disease duration in years, median (IQR) | 8 (4–15) | 8 (5–14) | 10 (5–17) | 9 (4–16) | 8 (5–14) | 9 (5–14) | 0.68 |
| % Female | 75.5 | 69.4 | 78.1 | 78.7 | 71.8 | 77.6 | 0.86 |
| Rheumatoid factor positive (%) | 78.8 | 82.6 | 80.4 | 79.9 | 79.8 | 73.7 | 0.995 |
| FFbH at t0, 0–100; 100 = best | 56.9 (22.6) | 57.1 (22.9) | 60.1 (23.2) | 58.8 (23.3) | 54.5 (21.1) | 58.8 (19.9) | 0.73 |
| HAQ at t0, calculated from FFbH | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.5 (0.6) | 1.5 (0.7) | 1.6 (0.6) | 1.5 (0.6) | n.a. |
| ESR at t0, mm/h, median (IQR) | 29 (16–50) | 38 (20–60) | 28 (16–44) | 30 (18–48) | 30 (15–51) | 42 (22–67) | <0.0001 |
| CRP, mg/l, median (IQR) | 18 (8–36) | 20 (9–52) | 14 (6–34) | 15 (8–33) | 21 (8–47) | 22 (12–47) | 0.15 |
| DAS28 at t0 | 5.7 (1.3) | 5.8 (1.2) | 5.5 (1.2) | 5.7 (1.2) | 5.8 (1.2) | 6.1 (1.2) | 0.027 |
| % Erosive at t0 | 79.9 | 79.0 | 79.1 | 80.3 | 82.6 | 84.7 | 0.86 |
| % Ever treated with biologics | 15.0 | 9.0 | 26.9 | 20.7 | 16.9 | 9.2 | 0.006 |
| No of previous traditional DMARD | 3.3 (1.4) | 3.3 (1.2) | 3.1 (1.2) | 3.2 (1.1) | 3.4 (1.4) | 3.7 (1.4) | 0.47 |
| Mean dosage of DMARD in mg | 15.5 (5.1) | 18.8 (3.4) | 15.1 (4.6) | 19.0 (4.0) | 14.7 (4.9) | 19.2 (3.2) | n.a. |
| % With co-morbidity | 71.1 | 71.5 | 63.3 | 66.1 | 65.4 | 70.7 | 0.34 |
| Follow-up in months, median (IQR) | 35 (20–48) | 25 (17–36) | 23 (12–32) | 20 (12–30) | 36 (24–49) | 35 (23–49) | <0.0001 |
Values are means and standard deviations if not otherwise specified. ADA, adalimumab; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, disease activity score based on 28 joint counts; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; ETN, etanercept; FFbH, Hannover functional status questionnaire measuring functional capacity in percentage of full function; HAQ, health assessment questionnaire; INF, infliximab; IQR, interquartile range; LEF, leflunomide; MTX, methotrexate.