Decreasing delays in the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in Brazil: a nationwide multicenter observational study

Table 2 Frequency of early RA treatment in Brazil according to the year of disease onset

Disease onset (year)	Delay from symptoms onset to the first DMARD^[a],[b]			N*
Disease onset (year)	≤ 3 months	≤ 6 months	≤ 12 months	N*
≤ 1990	8.5%	14.9%	33.3%	141
1991–1995	5.3%	15.8%	34.7%	95
1996–2000	12.3%	24.7%	44.5%	146
2001–2005	11.5%	26.3%	49.8%	217
2006–2010	17.2%	38.9%	61.1%	239
2011–2015	17.2%	36.3%	72.0%	157

RA, rheumatoid arthritis; DMARD, disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug
*Numbers of participants with data available for the analyses
^[a]The table shows the frequencies (%) of early RA treatment (early initiation of the first DMARD) considering different delay thresholds (windows of opportunity)
^[b]A significant association (p < 0,001) was found between the year of disease onset and the frequency of early RA treatment within all considered windows (delay thresholds); the Mantel–Haenszel linear-by-linear chi-squared test

ISSN: 2523-3106