Disease activity and pain during the 5 years of follow-up
| Baseline | 1 year | 2 years | 5 years | |||||||||
| Women | Men | p Value | Women | Men | p Value | Women | Men | p Value | Women | Men | p Value | |
| DAS28 | 5.15 (1.18) | 4.92 (1.18) | 0.026 | 3.55 (1.49) | 3.03 (1.36) | <0.001 | 3.46 (1.42) | 3.02 (1.41) | <0.001 | 3.57 (1.52) | 3.00 (1.56) | <0.001 |
| Swollen joints, n | 10 (6) | 11 (6) | 0.52 | 4 (4) | 3 (4) | 0.21 | 4 (4) | 3 (4) | 0.19 | 4 (7) | 3 (5) | 0.07 |
| Tender joints, n | 9 (7) | 7 (6) | <0.001 | 4 (5) | 3 (4) | <0.001 | 4 (5) | 3 (4) | 0.009 | 4 (5) | 3 (4) | 0.004 |
| General health VAS, mm | 46 (26) | 40 (24) | 0.013 | 30 (26) | 23 (21) | 0.003 | 28 (24) | 24 (23) | 0.06 | 31 (26) | 27 (25) | 0.11 |
| ESR | 35 (27) | 35 (25) | 0.90 | 20 (19) | 16 (17) | 0.009 | 20 (17) | 18 (18) | 0.29 | 22 (19) | 18 (18) | 0.044 |
| CRP | 30 (35) | 36 (38) | 0.046 | 14 (16) | 13 (20) | 0.61 | 14 (18) | 15 (19) | 0.60 | 14 (19) | 15 (18) | 0.74 |
| Pain VAS, mm | 47 (24) | 43 (24) | 0.045 | 31 (26) | 24 (23) | 0.004 | 29 (25) | 26 (25) | 0.24 | 32 (27) | 27 (25) | 0.027 |
Values are mean (SD). p Values are for the differences between women and men. Higher scores denote worse states. Bold values are significant.
CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, 28-joint Disease Activity Score; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; VAS, visual analogue scale.