Table 2 Characteristics of randomised controlled trials included in the analysis

Source	Mean disease duration, years	Inadequate response to (notes)	Active treatment group			Control group			Duration of control, weeks
Source	Mean disease duration, years	Inadequate response to (notes)	Active	N¶	Mean exposure¶ years	Control	N¶	Mean exposure¶ years	Duration of control, weeks
Furst et al30	10.4	Standard RA therapy	ADA 40 mg eow + DMARD	318	0.48	DMARD	318	0.48	24
van de Putte et al27	10.0	⩾1 DMARD	ADA 20 mg qw	72	0.22	Placebo	70	0.17	12
			ADA 40 mg qw	70	0.23
			ADA 80 mg qw	72	0.22
Weinblatt et al31	12.3	⩾1 and ⩽4 DMARD	ADA 20 mg eow + MTX	69	0.39	MTX	62	0.34	24
		besides MTX	ADA 40 mg eow + MTX	67	0.42
			ADA 80 mg eow + MTX	73	0.42
Keystone et al32	11.0	12.5 mg/week MTX	ADA 20 mg qw + MTX	212	0.90	MTX	200	0.85	54
			ADA 40 mg eow + MTX	207	0.88
van de Putte et al33	11.0	⩾1 DMARD	ADA 20 mg qw	112	0.43	Placebo	110	0.36	26
			ADA 20 mg eow	106	0.42
			ADA 40 mg qw	103	0.47
			ADA 40 mg eow	113	0.42
Breedveld et al34	0.7	MTX naive	ADA 40 mg eow + MTX	268	1.80	MTX	257	1.67	104
			ADA 40 mg eow	274	1.59
Moreland et al26	12.0	⩾1 and ⩽4 DMARD	ETA 10 mg bw	76	0.42	Placebo	80	0.33	24
			ETA 25 mg bw	78	0.44
Weinblatt et al27 Kremer et al35	13.0	15–25 mg/week MTX	ETA 25 mg bw + MTX	59	0.45 (3.78†)	MTX	30	0.40	24
Bathon et al37	11.7	MTX naive	ETA 10 mg bw	208	1.61	MTX	217	1.58	104
Genovese et al36			ETA 25 mg bw	207	1.72
Keystone et al38	11.0	12.5–25 mg/week	ETA 50 mg qw	214	0.29	Placebo	53	0.15	8
		MTX	ETA 25 mg bw	153	0.15 (0.19†)
Klareskog et al23 van	6.6	⩽1 DMARD excluding	ETA 25 mg bw	223	1.55	MTX	228	1.44	104
der Heidje et al39		MTX	ETA 25 mg bw + MTX	231	1.68
Combe et al40	6.6	2–4 gm/day SSZ	ETA 25 mg bw	103	0.50	SSZ	50	0.42	24
			ETA 25 mg bw + SSZ	101	0.50
Weisman et al29	9.8	NA Co-morbidities	ETA 25 mg bw	266	0.29	Placebo	269	0.26	16
Maini et al25	10.0	7.5–15 mg/week MTX	IFX 1 mg/kg q4w	15	0.18	MTX	14	0.21	26
			IFX 1 mg/kg q4w + MTX	14	0.22
			IFX 3 mg/kg q4w*	14	0.26
			IFX 3 mg/kg q4w + MTX*	15	0.23
			IFX 10 mg/kg q4w	15	0.27
			IFX 10 mg/kg q4w + MTX	14	0.26
Maini et al25 Lipsky et al24	10.6	⩾12.5 mg/week MTX	IFX 3 mg/kg q8w + MTX	88§	1.44	MTX	86	0.97	102
Maini et al42			IFX 3 mg/kg q4w + MTX	86	1.51
			IFX 10 mg/kg q8w + MTX	87	1.63
			IFX 10 mg/kg q8w + MTX	81	1.53
St Clair et al43	0.9	MTX naive	IFX 3 mg/kg q8w + MTX	372	0.94	MTX	291	0.96	54
			IFX 6 mg/kg q8w + MTX	377	0.93
Abe et al44	7.9	MTX	IFX 3 mg/kg q8w + MTX	49	0.24	MTX	47	0.26	14
			IFX 10 mg/kg q8w + MTX	51	0.27
Westhovens et al45	7.5	MTX Co-morbidities	IFX 3–9 mg/kg q8w + MTX	360	0.41 (0.54)†	MTX	363	0.41	22
			IFX 3 mg/kg q8w + MTX	338	0.43†
			IFX 10 mg/kg q8w + MTX	361	0.40 (0.53)†

ADA, adalimumab; DMARD, disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; ETA, etanercept; IFX, infliximab; MTX, methotrexate; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; SSZ, sulfasalazine; bw, twice per week; eow, every other week; qw, every week. *Classified as recommended dosing. †Exposure after controlled portions of trial. ‡Year 1 exposure. §Two subjects were excluded as they erroneously received one dose. ¶Safety population.