Table 5.

Values of Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients (r _s) or Pearson’s (linear) correlation coefficients (r) and levels of significance (p values) for the studied parameters in the group of patients with RA

Correlated parameters	Type of sample in which mean zinc levels were assessed
	Serum (μg/dL)	Erythrocytes (μg/dL)	Hair (μg/g d.h.m.)
Subject age (years)	r s = −0.23	r s = −0.02	r s = −0.03
Mean disease duration (years)	r s = −0.42*	r s = 0.09	r s = −0.01
Ritchie articular coefficient (score)	r s = −0.11	r s = 0.20	r s = −0.26
VAS (cm)	r s = 0.12	r s = 0.07	r s = −0.26
ESR (mm/h)	r s = 0.03	r s = 0.24	r s = 0.08
Hb (g/dL)	r = −0.17	r = 0.03	r = −0.21
DAS28	r s = 0.02	r s = 0.33	r s = −0.08

d.h.m. dry hair mass

* p < 0.0006