Table 2 Characteristics of the study cohort, stratified by juvenile arthritis (JA) case status

Sex

 Male

134 (34.7)

145 (35.3)

0.87

 Female

252 (65.3)

266 (64.7)

Age at diagnosis (years)

 0–5

146 (37.8)

102 (24.8)

< 0.01

 6–10

82 (21.2)

118 (28.7)

 11–15

158 (40.9)

191 (46.5)

Period of diagnosis

 ≤ 1992

83 (21.5)

6 (1.5)

< 0.01

 1993–2002

192 (49.7)

326 (79.3)

 2003–2012

111 (28.8)

79 (19.2)

Region of residence

 Urban

218 (56.5)

238 (57.9)

0.68

 Rural

168 (43.5)

173 (42.1)

Income quintile

 Q1 (Lowest/Not Found)

83 (21.5)

102 (24.8)

0.48

 Q2

68 (17.6)

77 (18.7)

 Q3

80 (20.7)

67 (16.3)

 Q4

81 (21.0)

91 (22.1)

 Q5 (Highest)

74 (19.2)

74 (18.0)

Any JA-related visit

 0–2 years

54 (14.0)

8 (1.9)

< 0.01

 8 years

154 (39.9)

21 (5.1)

< 0.01

 15 years

249 (64.5)

37 (9.0)

< 0.01

Number of general practitioner visits*

 0–2 years

10.51 (9.98)

9.35 (10.28)

0.11

 8 years

1.64 (2.29)

1.86 (2.69)

0.22

 15 years

2.17 (2.95)

2.05 (2.80)

0.56

Number of specialist visits*

 0–2 years

10.02 (11.38)

10.51 (11.33)

0.54

 8 years

3.97 (4.86)

2.87 (4.89)

< 0.01

 15 years

3.89 (4.10)

4.27 (5.98)

0.30

Hospitalization

 0–2 years

114 (29.5)

137 (33.3)

0.25

 8 years

23 (6.0)

36 (8.8)

0.13

 15 years

36 (9.3)

69 (16.8)

< 0.01