Table 1 Characteristics of all participants, according to societal costs (high vs. low), and according to retirement status (non-pensioner vs. pensioner)

Age (years) [mean(SD)]

66.4 (7.6)

0 (0%)

60.4 (4.0)

66.9 (7.6)

63.0 (6.9)

71.3 (5.9)

Gender—female [n(%)]

104 (46.6%)

0 (0%)

7 (33.3%)

97 (48.0%)

71 (55.0%)

30 (33.3%)

BMI [mean(SD)]

26.6 (4.7)

0 (0%)

27.8 (4.0)

26.5 (2.7)

26.7 (4.6)

26.4 (4.8)

Smoking—yes [n(%)]

23 (11.4%)

21 (9%)

1 (4.8%)

22 (12.2%)

18 (15.0%)

5 (6.1%)

Average alcohol consumption [n(%)]

Never

30 (14.8%)

20 (9%)

1 (4.5%)

29 (15.9%)

21 (17.4%)

9 (11.0%)

Once per month or less

28 (13.8%)

20 (9%)

4 (19.1%)

24 (13.2%)

18 (14.9%)

10 12.2%)

24 times per month

34 (16.8%)

20 (9%)

3 (14.3%)

31 (17.0%)

22 (18.2%)

12 14.6%)

2–3 times per week

46 (22.6%)

20 (9%)

7 (33.3%)

39 (21.4%)

30 (24.8%)

16 (19.5%)

4 > 4 times per week

65 (32.0%)

20 (9%)

6 (28.6%)

59 (32.4%)

40 (24.8%)

35 (42.7%)

Educational level [n(%)]

Low

91 (40.8%)

0 (0%)

7 (33.3%)

84 (41.6%)

60 (46.5%)

29 32.2%)

Moderate

48 (21.5%)

0 (0%)

6 (28.6%)

42 (20.1%)

32 (24.8%)

15 (16.7%)

High

84 (37.7%)

0 (0%)

8 (38.1%)

76 (37.6%)

37 (28.7%)

46 (51.1%)

Marital status [n(%)]

Single

32 (14.4%)

0 (0%)

3 (14.3%)

29 (14.4%)

16 (12.4%)

16 17.8%)

Married/living together

183 (82.1%)

0 (0%)

18 (85.7%)

165 (81.7%)

108 (83.7%)

71 78.9%)

LAT

8 (3.6%)

0 (0%)

0 (0.0%)

8 (3.9%)

5 (3.9%)

3 (3.3%)

Nationality [n(%)]

Dutch

211 (94.6%)

0 (0%)

21 (100%)

190 (94.1%)

120 (93%)

87 (96.7%)

Non-Dutch

12 (5.4%)

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

12 (5.9%)

9 (7%)

3 (3.3%)

Country of origin father [%/%]

Dutch/non-Dutch

89.2%/10.8%

0 (0%)

95.2%/4.8%

88.6%/11.4%

89.1%/10.9%

88.9%/11.1%

Country of origin mother [%/%]

Dutch/non-Dutch

92.4%/7.6%

0 (0%)

95.2%/4.8%

92.1%/7.8%

91.5%/8.5%

93.3%/6.7%

Employment

(Self-)employed

98 (43.9%)

0 (0%)

18 (18.4%)

80 (81.6%)

NA

NA

Pensioner

90 (40.4%)

0 (0%)

0 (0.0%)

90 (100%)

NA

NA

Other (e.g. voluntary work)

31 (15.7%)

4 (1.8%)

3 (8.6%)

28 (91.4%)

NA

NA

Feelings of depression [n(%)]

10 (5.5%)

63 (28.0%)

0 (0.0%)

10 (6.3%)

6 (5.6%)

4 (5.4%)

Symptom duration in days (median (IQR)

121 (21–1095)

26 (12)

122 (28–1095)

61 (14–730)

122 (28–1095)

117 (21–730)

Comorbidities (N (%))**

Neck/shoulders symptoms

101 (55.2%)

0 (0%)

11 (52.3%)

90 (44.6%)

59 (45.7%)

42 46.5%)

Feet problems

51 (28.3%)

0 (0%)

6 (28.6%)

45 (22.3%)

29 (22.5%)

22 24.4%)

Hip/knee arthritis

49 (27.8%)

0 (0%)

5 (23.8%)

44 (21.8%)

24 (18.6%)

25 27.8%)

High blood pressure

49 (26.5%)

0 (0%)

6 (28.6%)

43 (21.3%)

29 (22.4%)

20 (22.2%)

Headache/migraine

32 (17.9%)

0 (0%)

3 (6%)

29 (14.4%)

24 (18.6%)

8 (8.9%)

QALY [mean (SD)

0.4 (0.4)

23 (10)

0.3 (0.4)

0.4 (0.4)

0.3 (0.4)

0.4 (0.4)

Pain intensity [mean(SD)]

6.0 (2.2)

22 (10)

6.6 (2.1)

5.9 (2.2)

6.0 (4.6)

6.0 (2.1)

RMDQ [mean(SD)]

9.6 (5.8)

22 (10)

10.9 (6.5)

9.5 (5.7)

9.7 (5.9)

9.6 (5.6)