The participants in this study were the patients with newly diagnosed RA, included in the Swedish EIRA study; a population-based case–control study, which has been described elsewhere.6 From year 2006, questions regarding physical activity 5 years before baseline (ie, at diagnosis) were included in the questionnaire and patients recruited from this year could thus be included in the present study (N=818). Information on disease activity and other clinical features was obtained from the Swedish Rheumatology Quality (SRQ) register, as previously described.7