Characteristics at each rheumatologist visit for entire study population and stratified by DAS28 category, in Swedish patients with RA registered in the Swedish Rheumatology Quality register from 2006 until 2017
| RA population | DAS28 category | ||||
| Remission | Low | Intermediate | High | ||
| Observations (n) | 322 601 | 97 347 | 43 756 | 94 611 | 33 217 |
| Individuals (n) | 46 316 | 29 264 | 22 637 | 31 611 | 17 385 |
| Age at visit, median (IQR) | 63 (52–71) | 62 (50–70) | 64 (54–72) | 63 (53–71) | 63 (53–71) |
| Females (%) | 74 | 67 | 75 | 78 | 78 |
| RA duration, median (IQR) | 8.7 (3.2–17.6) | 8.1 (3.2–15.9) | 9.8 (3.8–19.1) | 9.3 (3.2–18.7) | 7.0 (1.5–16.2) |
| Clinical RA data | |||||
| DAS28ESR, median (IQR) | 3.1 (2.2–4.3) | 1.9 (1.5–2.3) | 2.9 (2.8–3.1) | 4.0 (3.6–4.5) | 5.8 (5.4–6.3) |
| DAS28CRP, median (IQR) | 2.9 (2.0–3.9) | 1.9 (1.6–2.2) | 2.6 (2.3–3.0) | 3.7 (3.2–4.2) | 5.3 (4.9–5.9) |
| CRP, median (IQR) | 5.0 (2.0–10.0) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | 4.9 (2.0–8.0) | 5.4 (3.0–12.0) | 16.0 (7.0–36.0) |
| ESR, median (IQR) | 14.0 (8.0–26.0) | 8.0 (4.0–13.0) | 14.0 (8.0–24.0) | 20.0 (12.0–31.0) | 36.0 (23.0–55.0) |
| HAQ, median (IQR) | 0.8 (0.3–1.3) | 0.3 (0.0–0.8) | 0.8 (0.3–1.1) | 1.0 (0.6–1.4) | 1.4 (1.0–1.9) |
| Swollen joint count, median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.0–3.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 0.0 (0.0–2.0) | 2.0 (1.0–4.0) | 8.0 (5.0–11.0) |
| Tender joint count, median (IQR) | 1.0 (0.0–4.0) | 0.0 (0.0–0.0) | 1.0 (0.0–2.0) | 3.0 (1.0–5.0) | 10.0 (6.0–14.0) |
| VAS global, median (IQR) | 33.0 (14.0–57.0) | 13.0 (4.0–28.0) | 30.0 (15.0–48.0) | 47.0 (29.0–64.0) | 70.0 (54.0–81.0) |
| VAS pain, median (IQR) | 32.0 (13.0–57.0) | 13.0 (4.0–28.0) | 28.0 (14.0–47.0) | 45.0 (28.0–64.0) | 69.0 (52.0–80.0) |
| Seropositive, (%) | 77 | 75 | 78 | 78 | 77 |
| Seronegative, unknown (%) | 24 | 25 | 23 | 22 | 23 |
| Smoker (%) | 56 | 55 | 58 | 58 | 58 |
| Comorbidities* | |||||
| ACS (%) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Other cardiac disease (%) | 26 | 22 | 27 | 28 | 30 |
| VTE (%) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Chronic kidney disease (%) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Cancer (in past 10 years) (%) | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| COPD (%) | 15 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
| Diabetes (%) | 9 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| Surgery (%)† | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| No of hospitalisations, median (IQR) | 6 (3–12) | 5 (2–9) | 6 (3–12) | 7 (4–14) | 8 (4–15) |
| No of specialist care visits, median (IQR) | 33 (18–60) | 29 (16–51) | 34 (19–60) | 35 (18–63) | 32 (15–61) |
| Treatments‡ | |||||
| Methotrexate (%) | 69 | 74 | 71 | 68 | 64 |
| Other csDMARD (%) | 18 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 19 |
| TNFi (%) | 33 | 33 | 35 | 33 | 31 |
| Other b/tsDMARD (%) | 12 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 17 |
| No previous biologics, median (IQR) | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–2) | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) |
| NSAID/ASA (%) | 59 | 54 | 58 | 63 | 69 |
| Anticoagulant§ (%) | 8 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Oral oestrogen¶ (%) | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 14 |
| Socioeconomic charcateristics | |||||
| Married/cohabiting partner (%) | 53 | 55 | 53 | 52 | 51 |
| Disability pension in previous year (%) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Sick leave in previous year (%) | 12 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 12 |
*Registered within the last 5 years unless otherwise stated.
†Surgery (musculoskeletal, gynaecological, gastrointestinal or cardiovascular) within 90 days before visit.
‡RA treatments: at time of visit. Other treatments: Registered within the last year.
§Collected anticoagulant drug from pharmacy within 1 year before VTE event.
¶Oral contraceptive w oestrogen or hormone replacement therapy.
ACS, acute coronary syndrome; b/tsDMARD, biological or targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CRP, C reactive protein; DAS28, Disease Activity Score 28; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; HAQ, Health Assessment Questionnaire; NSAID/ASA, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug/acetylsalicylic acid; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; TNFi, tumour necrosis factor inhabitor; VAS, visual analogue scale; VTE, venous thromboembolism.