Fig. 5: Safety evaluation of MTX withdrawal.

a Increment of disease activity score in 28 joints using CRP between first and second visit (ΔDAS28-CRP) in MTX-m (n = 72), MTX-1ww (n = 71) and MTX-2ww (n = 73). b Increment of disability measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire (ΔHAQ) in MTX-m (n = 72), MTX-1ww (n = 71) and MTX-2ww (n = 73). HAQ = 0 indicates no disability while a score of 3 indicates maximum disability. c Percentage of patients who relapsed during the study and severity of the relapse according to physician criteria. d Percentage of patients who relapsed during the study and severity of the relapse according to DAS28 criteria. Kruskal Wallis tests a, b or Fisher exact tests c, d were performed to assess statistical significance. The median of days between first and second visits was 77 (60–103) and the second visit took place a median of 29 days (28–35) after complete vaccination. Box plots represent the interquartile ranges, horizontal lines indicate the medians, and error bars extend to the upper and lower adjacent values.