Short-term efficacy of intra-articular injections with betamethasone
| Baseline (week 0) | Week 2 | Week 4 | Week 6 | p Value§ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No of tender joints* | 14 (8–20) | 3 (0–6) | 2 (0–5) | 1 (0–5) | <0.0001 |
| No of swollen joints* | 11 (6–15) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | <0.0001 |
| No of injected joints* | 4 (3–4) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–1) | <0.0001 |
| Doctor's global assessment (0–100 mm VAS) | 58 (38–68) | 12 (5–23) | 9 (3–17) | 7 (2–18) | <0.0001 |
| Patient's global assessment (0–100 mm VAS) | 50 (29–71) | 19 (5–41) | 14 (6–35) | 15 (4–34) | <0.0001 |
| Patient's assessment of pain (0–100 mm VAS) | 47 (28–70) | 15 (7–34) | 15 (6–32) | 13 (4–28) | <0.0001 |
| Serum CRP, mg/l | 20 (9–43) | 8 (3–15) | 9 (4–16) | 9 (4–13) | <0.0001 |
| ESR, mm/h | 28 (10–48) | 14 (6–23) | 14 (7–25) | 14 (7–25) | <0.0001 |
| DAS28 score | 5.5 (4.6–6.2) | 3.0 (2.1–3.9) | 2.9 (2.0–3.6) | 2.6 (2–3.5) | <0.0001 |
| HAQ score (0–3) | 1 (0.375–1.5) | 0.25 (0–0.75) | 0.25 (0–0.5) | 0.125 (0–0.5) | <0.0001 |
| Fraction of patients with no swollen joints* (% of patients) | 0 | 50.3 | 54.5 | 60.5 | <0.0001 |
| EULAR g/m/n response (% of patients) | NA | 50.0/39.5/10.5 | 58.1/36.1/5.8 | 61.7/31.5/6.7 | NA |
| Fraction of patients in DAS28 remission | 3.1 | 39.2 | 42.3 | 46.7 | <0.0001 |
Values are medians (IQR).
↵* 40-joint count. Calculations are based on available data with no last observation carried forward imputation. §The Cochran–Armitage test for trend (dichotomous variables), and Jonckheere–Terpstra test for trend (continuous variables) were used. The mean numbers of injections at visit 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks were 3.3, 1.1, 0.9 and 08, respectively.
CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, Disease Activity Score-28; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; EULAR, European League Against Rheumatism; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; NA, not applicable; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale.