Characteristics of ERA subjects and the matched controls
| ERA (n=261) | Controls (n=783) | p-value | |
| Age (mean +/- SD) | 60.2 +/- 12 | 60.3 +/- 12 | 0.99 |
| Total cholesterol (mean +/- SD) | 4.8 +/- 0.94 | 4.9 +/- 1.00 | 0.34 |
| High density lipoprotein-cholesterol (median, IQR) | 1.4 (1.2-1.6) | 1.4 (1.2-1.7) | 0.612 |
| Low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (mean +/- SD) | 2.8 +/- 0.8 | 2.6 +/- 0.8 | 0.27 |
| Triglyceride (median, IQR) | 0.96 (0.7-1.3) | 1.2 (0.8-1.7) | 0.00 |
| Atherogenic index# (mean +/- SD) | -0.07 +/-0.29 | -0.15 +/- 0.28 | 0.48 |
| RA disease characteristics | Baseline | last visit | |
| Seropositivity | 89.3% | ||
| Disease duration (median days, IQR) | 177 (96-299) | 2026 (1818-2126) | |
| Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (mean +/- SD) | 55.7 +/- 34 | 32.6 +/- 21.3 | |
| C-reactive protein (median, IQR) | 7.9 (3.5-22.2) | 2.1 (1.0-5.0) | |
| Swollen joint count (median, IQR) | 3 (2-6) | 0 (0-1) | |
| Tender joint count (median, IQR) | 6 (3-10) | 0 (0-1) | |
| Patient’s global assessment (mean mm +/- SD) | 50.7 +/- 26.8 | 16.0 +/- 18.3 | |
| DAS28-ESR (mean +/- SD) | 5.2 +/- 1.3 | 2.4 +/- 1.8 | |
| DAS28-CRP (mean +/- SD) | 4.4 +/- 1.3 | 1.8 +/- 1.5 | |
| Health assessment questionnaire (mean +/- SD) | 0.77 +/- 0.74 | 0.38 +/- 0.51 |
# Atherogenic index = log10 (triglyceride/HDL-cholesterol)
SD: standard deviation, IQR: interquartile range, DAS28: disease activity score-28