Cross-sectional demographic data compared across groups
| Variable | Active RA (n=82) | RA in remission (n=31) | Population controls (n=86) | p Value (active vs remission) | p Value (active vs control) | p Value (remission vs control) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Demographic data | ||||||
| Age | 56.9 | 58.1 (8.0) | 53.7 (10.5) | 0.54 | 0.05 | 0.02 |
| Female sex | 64 (78.0) | 22 (71.0) | 53 (61.6) | 0.43 | 0.02 | 0.35 |
| Education | 35 (42.7) | 14 (45.2) | 38 (46.3) | 0.81 | 0.64 | 0.91 |
| Smoking | 21 (25.9) | 4 (12.9) | 20 (23.3) | 0.14 | 0.69 | 0.22 |
| BMI | 26.3 (5.6) | 25.0 (3.9) | 25.4 (4.0) | 0.28 | 0.22 | 0.66 |
| Disease duration | 17.1 (2.1) | 16.9 (1.7) | 0.70 | |||
| Presence of comorbidities | ||||||
| MI | 4 (5.5) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (3.7) | 0.19 | 0.60 | 0.29 |
| Stroke | 6 (7.3) | 1 (3.2) | 1 (1.2) | 0.42 | 0.05 | 0.45 |
| Diabetes | 9 (11.0) | 1 (3.2) | 2 (2.4) | 0.20 | 0.03 | 0.79 |
| Current use of medication | ||||||
| Antihypertensives | 31 (37.8) | 3 (9.7) | 18 (21.2) | 0.004 | 0.02 | 0.16 |
| Statins | 16 (19.5) | 2 (6.5) | 13 (15.3) | 0.09 | 0.47 | 0.21 |
| Prednisolone | 27 (32.9) | 4 (12.9) | 0.03 | |||
| Methotrexate | 28 (34.1) | 9 (29.0) | 0.61 | |||
| TNFα inhibitors | 24 (30.0) | 5 (16.1) | 0.14 | |||
Crude mean (SD) values presented and numbers (percentages) for counts.
BMI, body mass index; MI, myocardial infarction; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; smoking, smoking ever vs never; stroke, cerebrovascular accident due to ischaemia or haemorrhage; TNFα, tumour necrosis factor α.