Table 1.
Comparison between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and control individuals according to sex
| Women | Men | |||||
| RA cases (n = 777) | Controls (n = 1104) | P | RA cases (n = 318) | Controls (n = 426) | P | |
| Age in years (mean ± SD) | 62 ± 13 | 56 ± 15 | <0.001 | 63 ± 12 | 53 ± 14 | <0.001 |
| Education in years (mean ± SD) | 9.7 ± 3.8 | 10.9 ± 4.0 | <0.001 | 8.6 ± 3.3 | 10.8 ± 4.2 | <0.001 |
| BMI (kg/m2; mean ± SD) | 26 ± 4.6 | 25 ± 4.6 | 0.54 | 26 ± 3.8 | 27 ± 3.7 | 0.62 |
| Proportion currently smoking (%) | 7 | 14 | <0.001 | 18 | 21 | 0.83 |
| Proportion past smokers (%) | 16 | 22 | 0.02 | 66 | 50 | <0.001 |
| HAQ disability index (mean ± SD)* | 0.89 ± 0.8 | 0.30 ± 0.6 | <0.001 | 0.68 ± 0.8 | 0.21 ± 0.5 | <0.001 |
| General health VAS (mean ± SD)† | 35.1 ± 22 | 22.4 ± 22 | <0.001 | 31.8 ± 21 | 20.8 ± 22 | <0.001 |
| Pain VAS (mean ± SD)† | 34 ± 25 | 21 ± 25 | <0.001 | 29 ± 23 | 19 ± 23 | <0.001 |
*Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) disability index (range 0–3); †visual analog scale (VAS; range 0–100, best to worst). BMI, body mass index; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.