Clinical indices of disease activity at baseline and weeks 3, 6, and 12. Data are presented as mean (SD)
| Diet group (n=26) | Control group (n=25) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| week 1 | week 3 | week 6 | week 12 | week 1 | week 3 | week 6 | week 12 | p Value* | |
| *The p values refer to difference between diet and control groups for the change from baseline to week 12. Differences between groups were analysed by Student’s t test for independent samples, except for HAQ score, number of swollen and tender joints, CRP, and SOFI score, evaluated by Mann-Whitney U test; | |||||||||
| †n=23; | |||||||||
| ‡the p values refer to change from baseline. Within-group differences at weeks 3, 6, and 12 compared with baseline, were evaluated by Student’s t test for paired samples, except for HAQ score, number of swollen and tender joints, CRP, and SOFI score, which were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed ranks test; | |||||||||
| §n=25; | |||||||||
| ¶n=24. | |||||||||
| DAS28 score (2–10) | 4.4 (1.2) | 4.2 (1.4) | 3.9 (1.2) | 4.3 (1.4)† | 4.2 (1.4)† | 4.3 (1.5)† | 0.047 | ||
| p=0.145‡ | p<0.001 | p=0.623 | p=0.694 | ||||||
| HAQ score (0–3) | 0.7 (0.5) | 0.6 (0.5)§ | 0.6 (0.4) | 0.8 (0.6)† | 0.7 (0.6)† | 0.8 (0.6)† | 0.012 | ||
| 0.148 | p=0.020 | p=0.484 | p=0.208 | ||||||
| Swollen joint count (0–28) | 7.0 (5.6)§ | 6.3 (5.7)§ | 5.2 (5.1)§ | 6.9 (5.0)¶ | 7.8 (5.7)¶ | 7.5 (5.7)¶ | 0.001 | ||
| p=0.135 | p<0.001 | p=0.154 | p=0.516 | ||||||
| Tender joint count (0–28) | 6.8 (5.9)§ | 5.1 (5.0)§ | 4.5 (5.1)§ | 6.9 (6.3)¶ | 5.9 (5.9)¶ | 6.1 (6.4)¶ | 0.212 | ||
| p=0.041 | p=0.002 | p=0.139 | p=0.277 | ||||||
| ESR (Westergren) (mm/1st h) | 24 (15) | 28 (20) | 31 (23) | 25 (15) | 23 (15) | 26 (20) | 22 (15) | 25 (19) | 0.660 |
| p=0.070 | p=0.027 | p=0.596 | p=0.190 | p=0.710 | p=0.360 | ||||
| Patients’ global VAS (0–100 mm) | 30 (22) | 20 (16) | 26 (21) | 18 (13) | 28 (20) | 19 (14) | 26 (21) | 27 (21) | 0.061 |
| p=0.005 | p=0.267 | p=0.008 | p=0.007 | p=0.627 | p=0.694 | ||||
| Pain VAS (0–100 mm) | 32 (20) | 22 (16) | 30 (22) | 20 (13) | 31 (20) | 25 (18) | 33 (24) | 34 (21) | 0.006 |
| p=0.004 | p=0.769 | p=0.007 | p=0.091 | p=0.570 | p=0.319 | ||||
| Morning stiffness (min) | 49 (42) | 35 (33) | 49 (49) | 44 (52) | 64 (38) | 53 (44) | 70 (51) | 70 (64) | 0.367 |
| p=0.003 | p=0.998 | p=0.514 | p=0.142 | p=0.391 | p=0.531 | ||||
| CRP (mg/l) | 17 (20)§ | 16 (22)§ | 27 (55)¶ | 12 (15)§ | 15 (14)† | 15 (16)† | 12 (9)† | 15 (12)† | 0.006 |
| p=0.475 | p=0.965 | p=0.001 | p=0.293 | p=0.152 | p=0.525 | ||||
| Thrombocyte count (×109/l) | 273 (55) | 250 (59)¶ | 258 (51) | 247 (47) | 306 (69) | 300 (58)¶ | 291 (59) | 299 (74) | 0.131 |
| p=0.005 | p=0.020 | p=0.001 | p=0.331 | p=0.040 | p=0.470 | ||||
| GAT score (0–276) | 26 (13) | 24 (14) | 23 (13) | 23 (8) | 24 (10) | 24 (11) | 0.121 | ||
| p=0.153 | p=0.110 | p=0.290 | p=0.590 | ||||||
| SOFI score (0–44) | 10.2 (6.8)§ | 9.4 (6.2)§ | 9.7 (7.0)§ | 10.2 (5.8) | 9.0 (6.2) | 9.0 (5.6) | 0.647 | ||
| p=0.420 | p=0.520 | p=0.067 | p=0.165 | ||||||