Baseline characteristics of patients with and without erosions not fulfilling and patients fulfilling the 2010 RA criteria
| Patients not fulfilling the 2010 RA criteria at baseline (n=169) | Patients fulfilling the 2010 RA criteria at baseline (n=120) | ||||
| No erosions (n=114) | ≥1 erosion (n=55) | ≥2 erosions (n=27) | ≥3 erosions* (n=15) | ||
| Age, mean (SD) | 41.4 (14.1) | 56.4 (11.2) | 59.6 (10.0) | 61.8 (10.9) | 52.3 (13.7) |
| Female gender, n (%) | 59 (51.8) | 26 (47.3) | 13 (48.1) | 6 (40.0) | 72 (60.0) |
| Duration of joint swelling (days), median (25, 75 percentile) | 31 (11, 67) | 36 (9, 67) | 55 (17, 76) | 48 (17, 76) | 67 (37, 88) |
| Ever smoker, n (%) | 54 (47.4) | 33 (60.0) | 18 (66.7) | 11 (73.3) | 89 (74.2) |
| RF and/or ACPA positive, n (%) | 6 (5.4) | 6 (10.9) | 2 (7.4) | 0 | 78 (65.5) |
| – RF (IgM or IgA) positive, n (%) | 5 (4.5) | 2 (3.6) | 0 | 0 | 61 (51.3) |
| – ACPA positive, n (%) | 3 (2.7) | 5 (9.1) | 2 (7.4) | 0 | 67 (56.3) |
| ESR, mm/hour, median (25, 75 percentile) | 20 (9, 36.25) | 20 (10, 37) | 32.5 (14, 41) | 34 (14, 44) | 28 (14.25, 44.75) |
| CRP, mg/L, median (25, 75 percentile) | 12 (2, 41.75) | 10 (3, 30) | 10 (4, 30) | 16 (6, 28) | 15.5 (6, 38) |
| 68-SJC, median (25, 75 percentile) | 2 (1, 3) | 2 (1, 4) | 2 (1, 5) | 3 (2, 6) | 11 (5, 17) |
| 28-TJC, median (25, 75 percentile) | 1 (1, 2) | 2 (1, 4) | 1 (1, 4) | 1 (1, 3) | 7.5 (4, 12.75) |
| Small joint involvement, n (%) | 51 (44.7) | 35 (63.6) | 18 (66.7) | 13 (86.7) | 118 (98.3) |
| Polyarticular arthritis†, n (%) | 14 (12.3) | 13 (23.6) | 7 (25.9) | 5 (33.3) | 98 (81.7) |
| HAQ, mean (SD) | 0.72 (0.6) | 0.72 (0.6) | 0.62 (0.5) | 0.65 (0.5) | 1.07 (0.7) |
| DAS28, mean (SD) | 3.6 (1.2) | 4.0 (1.2) | 4.1 (1.1) | 4.1 (1.1) | 5.4 (1.3) |
| Criteria points, median (25, 75 percentile) | 3 (1, 4) | 4 (2, 4) | 4 (3, 4) | 4 (3, 4) | 7 (6, 9) |
Small joint involvement, metacarpophalangeal joints, proximal interphalangeal joints, second through fifth metatarsophalangeal joints, thumb interphalangeal joints and wrists.
*Fulfilling the erosion criterion.
†>4 swollen joints.
28-TJC, 28-tender joint count; 68-SJC, 68-swollen joint count (standard 66-SJC plus hip joints); ACPA, anticitrullinated peptide antibody; CRP, C reactive protein; DAS28, Disease Activity Score-28; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RF, rheumatoid factor.