NOR-DMARD database: discrimination between patients considering themselves considerably improved or not after 3 months and between patients treated with TNF blockers versus patients treated with conventional DMARDs after 3 (or 6) months of treatment
| Considerable improvement(n = 43) | No considerable improvement(n = 33) | SMD | t score | TNF(n = 71) | DMARD(n = 20) | SMD | t score | |
| Back pain, morning stiffness, patient global, ESR, CRP | −1.93 (1.12) | −0.43 (0.97) | 1.42 | 6.2 | −1.63 (1.18) | −0.37 (0.92) | 1.12 | 4.4 |
| Back pain, morning stiffness, patient global, pain/swelling peripheral, ESR | −1.78 (1.02) | −0.41 (0.92) | 1.40 | 6.0 | −1.48 (1.10) | −0.34 (0.79) | 1.10 | 4.3 |
| Back pain, morning stiffness, patient global, pain/swelling peripheral, CRP | −1.85 (1.13) | −0.39 (1.05) | 1.33 | 5.7 | −1.55 (1.19) | −0.25 (0.93) | 1.15 | 4.4 |
| Back pain, morning stiffness, fatigue, ESR, CRP | −1.91 (1.19) | −0.46 (0.89) | 1.37 | 5.8 | −1.60 (1.22) | −0.44 (0.86) | 1.02 | 4.0 |
| BASDAI | −3.32 (2.33) | −0.68 (1.85) | 1.24 | 5.3 | −2.65 (2.33) | −0.55 (1.90) | 0.94 | 3.7 |
| BASDAI 1: fatigue | −2.70 (3.44) | −1.05 (2.81) | 0.52 | 2.2 | −2.15 (3.23) | −1.39 (3.13) | 0.24 | 0.9 |
| BASDAI 2: back pain | −4.05 (2.80) | −0.44 (2.64) | 1.32 | 5.7 | −3.15 (2.80) | −0.36 (3.21) | 0.97 | 3.8 |
| BASDAI 3: pain/swelling peripheral joints | −2.45 (3.25) | −0.70 (2.69) | 0.58 | 2.5 | −1.85 (3.30) | −1.66 (2.29) | 0.06 | 1.5 |
| BASDAI 4: enthesitis | −3.14 (2.83) | −0.42 (2.82) | 0.96 | 4.2 | −2.69 (2.69) | −0.50 (2.92) | 0.80 | 4.6 |
| BASDAI 5: severity morning stiffness | −4.13 (2.68) | −1.22 (2.52) | 1.11 | 4.8 | −3.36 (2.82) | −1.22 (2.53) | 0.78 | 3.1 |
| BASDAI 6: duration morning stiffness | −4.12 (3.14) | −0.42 (3.00) | 1.20 | 5.2 | −3.45 (3.23) | −0.04 (3.01) | 1.08 | 4.2 |
| BASDAI 5/6: morning stiffness | −4.13 (2.76) | −0.82 (2.42) | 1.27 | 5.5 | −3.40 (2.81) | −0.63 (2.41) | 1.02 | 4.0 |
| Patient global | −3.62 (2.35) | −0.71 (2.89) | 1.13 | 4.8 | −2.99 (2.59) | −0.47 (2.82) | 0.95 | 3.8 |
| Physician global | −3.14 (2.07) | −1.25 (1.78) | 0.97 | 4.1 | −2.87 (2.06) | −0.79 (1.65) | 1.06 | 4.0 |
| ESR | −16.5 (18.8) | −6.15 (12.8) | 0.64 | 2.7 | −14.7 (18.4) | −7.15 (14.6) | 0.43 | 1.7 |
| CRP | −13.95 (18.75) | −2.79 (12.6) | 0.69 | 3.0 | −13.4 (22.3) | −1.75 (14.8) | 0.56 | 2.2 |
Values shown as mean (SD).
BASDAI, Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index; CRP, C-reactive protein; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; SMD, standardised mean difference; TNF, tumour necrosis factor.