Characteristics of adult Swedish residents with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other inflammatory joint diseases (IJDs, defined as ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, other spondyloarthropathies and juvenile idiopathic arthritis) in Sweden, 1 March 2020, and their matched general population comparator subjects
| RA | Other IJD | All IJDs combined | Matched general population referents* | |
| Individuals* | 53 455 | 57 112 | 110 567 | 484 277 |
| Age, median (IQR) | 69 (57 to 77) | 55 (43 to 67) | 62 (49 to 73) | 60 (47 to 71) |
| Women | 73% | 51% | 62% | 62% |
| Years since diagnosis, median (IQR) | 10 (5 to 16) | 10 (5 to 15) | 10 (5 to 16) | – |
| Comorbidities | ||||
| History of cancer | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| History of diabetes | 14% | 11% | 12% | 10% |
| History of heart failure | 4% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| History of ischaemic heart disease | 7% | 4% | 6% | 3% |
| History of infections | 7% | 4% | 5% | 2% |
| History of lung diseases | 11% | 6% | 9% | 4% |
| History of kidney failure | 4% | 2% | 3% | 1% |
| History of stroke | 4% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| History of joint surgery | 18% | 8% | 12% | 5% |
| History of venous thromboembolism | 1.3% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 0.5% |
| Highest achieved education | ||||
| <9 years | 16% | 6% | 11% | 9% |
| 9–12 years | 56% | 60% | 58% | 55% |
| 12+ years | 28% | 34% | 31% | 36% |
| Civil status: married | 50% | 48% | 49% | 48% |
| Born in Sweden | 87% | 90% | 89% | 84% |
| Hospitalisation: days past year, median (IQR), among hospitalised | 5 (3 to 12) | 4 (2 to 9) | 5 (3 to 11) | 4 (2 to 8) |
| Hospitalisation: days past 10 years to 1 year, median (IQR), among hospitalised | 8 (4 to 21) | 6 (3 to 14) | 7 (3 to 17) | 5 (3 to 11) |
*Individually matched to each individual with an IJD, that is, to the column ‘All IJDs combined‘. Note that full variable definitions are presented in online supplemental table 4.