About the Authors

Yi Pan

Roles Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Sam Norton

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Supervision, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Health Psychology section, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom, Department of Inflammation Biology, Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom

James M. Gwinnutt

Roles Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Lianne Kearsley-Fleet

Roles Formal analysis, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Deborah P. M. Symmons

Roles Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Mark Lunt

Roles Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Adam Young

Roles Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Centre for Health Services & Clinical Research & Post Graduate Medicine, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, Hatfield, United Kingdom

BSRBR-RA Control Centre Consortium

Membership of BSRBR-RA Control Centre Consortium is provided in the Acknowledgments

Affiliation Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Kimme L. Hyrich

Roles Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

Affiliations Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom, NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Suzanne M. M. Verstappen

Roles Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Suzanne.Verstappen@manchester.ac.uk

Affiliations Arthritis Research UK Centre for Epidemiology, Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, Division of Musculoskeletal and Dermatological Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, University of Manchester, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom, NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre, Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, Manchester, United Kingdom

Competing Interests

The British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) receives funding from Abbvie, Celltrion, Eli Lilly, Pfizer, Roche, Samsung Bioepis, Sandoz, Sanofi & UCB. These funds, in part, support a research grant awarded in open competition by the BSR to the University of Manchester. The authors declare no other competing interests. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.