Associations between disease activity during the 5-year trial period and late (>5-year) mortality in Induction therapy with Methotrexate and Prednisone in Rheumatoid Or Very Early arthritic Disease (IMPROVED)
| HR (95% CI) | |
| Mean DAS* | 1.13 (0.67 to 1.91) |
| Early remission (DAS<1.6 at second study visit) | 0.80 (0.47 to 1.35) |
| Ever sustained remission (min. 1 year) | 0.71 (0.42 to 1.20) |
| Ever drug-free remission | 0.70 (0.41 to 1.20) |
| Percentage of study visits with DAS>2.4† | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.01) |
| Mean ESR | 1.02 (1.002 to 1.04) |
*Primary measure of disease activity. The HR indicates the increase in mortality risk for each point in mean DAS increase during the trial period.
†The HR represents the mortality risk increase for each per cent of study visits in high disease activity (in case of complete follow-up, 1 study visit corresponds with 6% of the study visits). All disease activity measures were tested in separate Cox analyses and adjusted for potential confounders (age, randomisation arm, ACPA, sex, ever smoking (until the end of follow-up of IMPROVED) and BMI). DAS measurement was available at median 15 (IQR 13–16) out of 16 study visits.
ACPA, anticitrullinated protein antibody; BMI, body mass index; DAS, disease activity score; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate.